Inspiring example of restraint in Sonoma Coast pinot noir. Subtle, layered, excellent acidity, toned-down alcohol. You will not find Anaba on your supermarket shelf. Try high-end wineshops and the Anaba website. Worth it if you can get it. $74-79
This is not a big, jammy, heavy Sonoma Coast pinot. Winemaker Katy Wilson went for a refined, toned down pour where fruit is the focus and superb acidity the frame. Restrained alcohol—13.9% ABV—does not wrestle for attention, allowing you to appreciate the pleasures of this wine’s sophisticated red-grape layers. Winemaker Katy Wilson advocates non-intervention in the winery. Ross Cobb is the consulting winemaker, having preceded Wilson as head winemaker. Together, they made a wonderful wine with this effort.
The Felix Hunter Vineyard is owned by Jay Morris. The vineyard is named after Jay’s grandfather, who was the first farmer in the family. The name is carried forth in the family today. Located in the Green Valley AVA, a very cool-climate part of the greater Sonoma Coast AVA. The chills instill excellent acidity and the layered profile. This effort is textbook for the vineyard. Anaba has worked with this vineyard since 2016.
The harvest is not described in the notes, but Anaba techniques are consistent. Hand harvesting, sorting in the field and on vibrating sorting tables at the winery. Pressing includes some whole cluster and partial cluster. After an extensive cold soak, wine ferments in open-top, temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks with manual cap management via punch-downs, a hallmark of traditional Burgundian winemaking.
The wines aged 20 months in 33% new oak, the remainder prior use barrels. Standard 225-liter (59.5 gallons) barrels are used. Full malolactic conversion occurs in barrel. Anaba sources French oak barrels exclusively from two premier Burgundian cooperages: François Frères Tonnellerie and Tonnellerie Rousseau. Both cooperages specialize in tight-grain oak from Central and Eastern French forests. Anaba favors medium to medium-long toast levels. Ross Cobb notes: “I prefer a lighter touch, less caramelized sweetness.”
John Sweazey owns Anaba Wines. His career took him from studying business at Stanford University, to selling IBM computer systems. In 1971, Sweazey quit his IBM job to take a nine-month tour through Europe, particularly exploring the wine culture. He engaged in commercial real estate sales upon returning to San Francisco, but he also took regular month-long European tours to refine his understanding of wine. In the early 2000s, he was able to acquire land developed by Vic McWilliams in the early 1990s in Carneros, Sonoma County. McWilliams’s Castle Vineyards & Winery is the foundation for today’s Anaba winery. Anaba Wines was founded in 2006. A pinot noir was the first release in 2006, followed by a chardonnay in 2007.
Anaba Felix Hunter Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast 2022: Medium ruby color; raspberry, cranberry, cherry, mint, tomato leaf, earth, oak notes, spice on the nose and palate. Dry; mild, smooth tannins; excellent acidity (3.52 pH). Medium body, silky texture. Tannins are background players in the attack and mid-palate, where the delicious fruit and balancing acidity get the spotlight. Tannins do come on to produce a gentle pucker on the impressively long finish.
Pairing—Duck is a classic, particularly with fruit accompaniments (orange-based reduction, blackcurrant sauce, cherry gastrique); veal with mushroom sauces. Roast chicken prepared with thyme or rosemary. Salmon, including cedar-plank roasting; lentil, beer, mushroom sauces; less successful with cream-based reductions. Vietnamese noodle soups. Cheese—Aged gruyère, comté; aged goat cheese, Crottin de Chavignol, Humboldt Fog; brie, camembert; aged manchego, ossau-iraty; fontina, taleggio; aged cheddar. Avoid intense blue cheeses.
