2022 Typicite Pinot Noir Gaps Crown Sonoma Coast 750 ml

There isn’t a French-style classification system for the Sonoma Coast, but if there were, Gap’s Crown Vineyard would be a Grand Cru. 

Pinot Noir legends like Kosta Browne, Gary Farrell, and Three Sticks have done some of their best work off this prized vineyard, resulting in classic bottlings that have nabbed a slew of lofty scores. Kosta Browne’s 2011 Wine Spectator Wine of the Year—their 2009 Sonoma Coast Pinot—was heavily sourced from Gap’s Crown. 

The right winemakers can work wonders with the vineyard’s fruit, and Typicité’s team of Collin Cranor and Craig Ploof are out to make their mark with top vineyards like this one. This summer, Wine Advocate called the duo and their wines “Hyper-clean, quality-focused, with a selection of grape sources that is still being curated and refined.” They concluded that Typicite was a “newcomer to watch.” 

In 202, the team managed to peel off a few tons of Pinot Noir from the legendary Gap’s Crown vineyard. Famously cold and rocky, the western-facing site peers over the mouth of the Petaluma Gap. Here, a daily dance of wind and fog allows the grapes to ripen more slowly than they do further inland, achieving striking balance and precision. 

Buttressed by the electrifying acidity of the fog-shrouded coast, the 2022 Typicité deftly captures the outstanding vintage, eliciting the high-tension beauty that’s made Gap’s Crown one of the best-known sites along the Sonoma Coast. An instant YES from the team at our weekly judging panel, it’s a stunner of a Pinot from a legendary terroir.