Disclaimer: I officed at Sonoma-Cutrer in the Russian River Valley for several years, and was closely involved with the development of their pinot noir program. I watched the vineyards develop, talked with the winemakers frequently, and tasted the batches of wines that went into the blends, barrel by barrel.
From the beginning they kept the pinot program entirely separate from chardonnay, creating a smaller separate winery that handled only the pinot. Sonoma-Cutrer sold most of their pinot noir for years, until they felt the vineyards, the maturation and the style had coalesced to their standards.
The 2014 is a culmination of all that effort. It begins with a cherry-berry-cola whiff (okay, Dr. Pepper), a burst of pungent rose petals, then steadily drills down through a layer cake of complex, intense, beautiful fruits, all wrapped up with earthy notes and jazzed up with spice as the cola returns. The finish is mellifluous; intense and persistent but soft and beguiling, the contrast that comes from