2020 Martin Ray Vineyards and Winery Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 750 ml

The 2020 Martin Ray Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir took the Wine Access tasting table by storm. Bold, luscious, and boasting the kind of excellence that’s rare in Pinots at this price, it will be a major contender for our case-buy of the year.

There’s a reason our Master Sommelier, Sur Lucero, gulped down an entire glass just while writing the tasting note. Deep ruby in hue, it’s got a cornucopia of dark fruit on the nose, led by blackberry and black cherry, and a plush, supple palate full of juicy fruit decorated with notes of cola and a kiss of smoke. Fleshy, warm, and capped with a long, satisfying finish, it’s delicious—and WAY too easy to drink.

The seeming effortlessness of balance in the glass is, of course, the result of intensive labor in the vineyard. That was the spirit in which Martin Ray—a pioneer of California viticulture alongside legends like Donn Chappellet and Robert Mondavi—founded his winery in the 1940s, and it continues in his name today.

Ray wanted to craft Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to rival the best of Europe when most would have found that notion laughable. He cut yields and refused to irrigate in the vineyard, and he was even stricter in the cellar, sometimes holding wines back a decade until he felt they were ready to go to market. That dedication to quality landed Martin Ray wines in the White House under both the Johnson and Nixon administrations, and started a legacy that continues with 93-point gems like this one.

All balance and elegance, this textbook Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir wowed us, and it’ll wow you too.