Katy Wilson makes some of our favorite Pinot Noirs from vintage to vintage. While working at the well-known Pinot producer, Flowers, she fell in love with the Sonoma Coast and truly developed a passion for making Pinot Noir. It is with this passion that she makes the LaRue Wines. She also works alongside celebrate Pinot guru, Ross Cobb, and together Ross and Katy consult on numerous, inspired Pinot projects up and down the Sonoma Coast. She is truly a talent to watch.
Katy Wilson grew up on a walnut orchard in California’s Central Valley, learning to drive a tractor before she could drive a car and knew at a young age that she wants to be a winemaker. She graduated from Cal-Poly in 2005 and her first winery job was as a harvest intern at Testarossa Winery in Los Gatos. Upon leaving there she went on a never ending harvest, working at Torbreck in Australia, Joseph Phelps in St. Helena, Craggy Range in New Zealand and finally landing at Flowers on the Sonoma Coast where she went from harvest enologist to assistant winemaker. She then landed the associate winemaker position at Kamen Estate Wines in 2009 where she made her first vintage of LaRue.
The 2016 LaRue Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is a blend from their four single vineyard sites that include: Rice-Spivak, Emmaline Ann, Coastlands, and Thorn Ridge Vineyard. The Rice-Spivak Vineyard is south of the town of Sebastopol and is planted on Goldridge sandy loam along with volcanic ash. This distinctive soil profile along with the clonal selections of Dijon and Swan create a wine that is balanced with good acidity, fresh aromas, and unmistakable minerality. The Emmaline Ann Vineyard is near the town of Freestone and has pure Goldridge sandy loam soils. The proximity to the ocean along with the higher elevation contributes to the elegant and balanced characteristics that are definitive of the Emmaline Ann Vineyard. The Coastlands Vineyard was first planted in 1989 by the Cobb family with some of the oldest Pinot Noir vines on the Sonoma Coast. This vineyard ranges from 900-1,200 feet elevation and sits only four miles from the Pacific Ocean. The Thorn Ridge Vineyard is planted on a steep eastern-facing slope with Goldridge sandy loam soils and is west of the town of Sebastopol. The vines are over 20 years old and have a heavy marine influence, which gives notes of dark fruit integrated with spicy undertones to the wine.
This is a savory wine with aromas of dark raspberry, muddled strawberries, and sarsaparilla. Hints of rose petal, spicy pepper, and cocoa nibs complete the aromatic profile. On the palate this wine is mouth-filling with flavors of macerated Japanese plums, zesty orange peel, and peach blossom. Notes of caramel and toast round out the smooth and lingering finish. 500 cases produced.
