Pinot Noir loves a cool climate. There are two grape growing regions in California where temperatures can change as much as forty degrees in one day. It is these two regions that we believe grow the best Pinot Noir in the Americas. I remind you that we do not own property in either of these two regions so we have no vested interest in promoting them. We love Santa Maria and we love Russian River. One is a valley of oaks lying in the south of the State. The other is a valley of redwoods lying far to the north. But, when it comes to Pinot Noir, they are amazingly similar. In both areas the mountains briefly stop paralleling the sea and turn to the ocean, allowing the fog to move lazy in and then back to the sea. This causes the cooling which allows the grapes an extra twenty percent more time to hang on the vines. Twenty percent more time for the grapes to mature does not seem like a lot, but it results in Pinot Noir grapes richer in flavor than grapes picked earlier. It is that hang time, as it is described, along with similar soil, primarily eruptions of volcanic ash on shallow ocean bottom, that makes the two areas so special. The Russian River area is the more famous of the two. Santa Maria has a younger, wilder group of winemakers. The Santa Maria wineries tend more to experimentation, are newer, and are generally not as wealthy as their northern counterparts. Russian River winemakers are slightly more sophisticated. They talk about golf and croquet. Santa Maria winemakers surf, sail and river raft. Our Russian River Pinot Noir is very cherry and elegant. Our Santa Maria Pinot Noir is darker cherries with hints of exotic spices and cola nut. People often ask me which wine I prefer to drink, the exotic or the elegant. Who would you choose to have dinner with? Jolie or Paltrow? Loren or Hepburn? Gable or Grant? Damon or DiCaprio? Hathaway or Fox? I can’t decide.