Rivers-Marie Bodega Thieriot Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, USA 2021

Introduced in 2021, this leased Freestone site promises to be a significant part of Rivers-Marie for decades to come. Planted 100% to Calera clone, this 9 acre vineyard is surrounded by some of the most famous neighbors on the Sonoma Coast, Occidental Winery and Platt Vineyard. This will always be an intense bottling due to its thick skins, packed with color and tannin even in the coolest of years. Equal parts fruit and savory, the brooding nature of the wine fits the area’s personality perfectly.

I’ve never seen a new wine in an established line up contend for wine of the vintage. We should have known when we planted this 9 acre plot in 2017 that greatness would come early given the Freestone neighborhood in which it resides. In hindsight, one of the smartest things we did was to plant the entire vineyard to the Calera clone. There are 5 blocks from this vineyard all fermented and barreled separately and it’s hard to create a pecking order. With neighbors like Occidental Winery and Platt Vineyard, the character of the wine comes as no surprise. It’s darker fruited and brooding packed with fruit tannin and vibrant acidity that give focus and lift. This wind buffered site comes with thick skins so color comes easily even at lower brix levels. The perfume is what grabbed us first: lavender, licorice, violets and wood smoke. As good as all this is, the best news might be that we have a lease in place for 2/3s of this site through 2050. I doubt I’ll have much to do with it at that point but it should be an integral piece of the Rivers-Marie line up for generations to come.