2021 Wightman Cellars Pinot Noir Sonoma Mountain 750 ml

Wightman winemaker Justin Harmon has been hailed by Wine Spectator as a Rising Star of California Pinot Noir. Critic Jeb Dunnuck wrote, “If you haven’t heard of Justin Harmon, you should write that name down.”

The 2021 Wightman Sonoma Mountain Pinot shows exactly what the excitement is all about.

It’s the definition of a power-packed Pinot Noir. Part of that is thanks to Sonoma Mountain, a place where Paul Hobbs, Vivier, Greg La Follette, Hyde de Villaine, and many other Pinot luminaries buy fruit. 

Harmon’s fate as a star winemaker was far from predestined. He fell in love with wine as a consumer and became so determined to make wine that he experimented with a concentrate kit—not exactly known for Grand Cru quality—in his parents’ basement near Chicago. And when he found a winery that needed help, he flew all the way out to Sonoma County—for one day of work.

Fortunately for Harmon, the winemaker who accepted his help back in 2005 was Russell Bevan, the self-taught 100-point Cabernet master who was then working on his first vintage. Bevan allowed Harmon to return for the 2006 harvest, but at the end of the season, when Harmon approached Bevan about working there the next year, Bevan gave the young winemaker some advice: Start your own label. So with help from Bevan, Harmon founded Argot Wines, and then teamed up with Sage Wightman for Orrin-Sage wines, that is until they received a cease-and-desist letter from a rather large California winery that kindly asked them to change their name.

These wines have California Pinot fans in a frenzy, and you’ll scarcely find this one on a store shelf. Enjoy!