Reviews
- Wine & Spirits -
- Wine Enthusiast -
Technical Details
- Cory Waller
- US
- California
- Cienaga Valley
- San Benito County
- Eden Rift Estate - Hillside Terraces
- 15 months in 23% new and 77% neutral French
- 13.9%
- 409
Eden Rift Pinot Noir Terraces Cienega Valley 2019
Multi-Bottle Discount
19% OFF RETAIL!
Add 6 bottles to the cart and receive an additional 59% off!
The former Calera winemaker Cory Waller brings us a ridiculously good Pinot Noir today from California’s oldest continuously planted vineyard – 94 points and a killer price drop on 6+ bottles!
Eden Rift is one of our favorite not-so-little secrets! It’s a new project from an old vineyard dating back to 1849, headed up by a winemaker at the crest of his illustrious career. If you love Calera, or just love epic Cali-coastal Pinot Noir – then this is your chance at some seriously delectable, immaculately crafted juice!
The team at Eden Rift is led by Cory Waller, who was raised a few miles from the estate. He was previously assistant winemaker at the iconic Calera, a winery set in the hills of California’s Central Coast, right outside Monterey Bay. Cory favors fruit from vines that struggle, and in the cellar, he leans toward native yeasts and neutral vessels. For him, getting the voice of the vineyard into the bottle is an urgent and achievable mission. Just two miles away from Eden Rift, Calera was the first to change the game for this little-known region outside of Monterey – discovering that both the terroir and climate were almost Burgundy-esque in terms of growing top-notch Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Now, Eden Rift is following suit and crafting some of the most spectacular expressions of these varieties that could easily outpace wines triple the price.
Cory headed up the winemaking in 2016, after Christian Pillsbury acquired the estate and filled out his buzzing team with young and ambitious wine industry folks – but the vineyard has remained the oldest continuously planted vineyard in the state since the mid-1800s. Theophile Vache planted the 120-acre estate initially, perched on the hills along the San Andreas Faultline in the Cienega Valley AVA. Early vintners focused on some of the first Pinot Noir plantings in California, sowed on Eden Rift’s limestone and dolomite-packed land in 1860 – but both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay were somewhat forgotten on the property after prohibition until Christian and his team swept in a few years back.
With ample crushed raspberries, some pomegranate tea, velvety roses, some spice notes of cinnamon and black pepper, and an earthy, menthol-cool finish – this is a serious Pinot with a big personality, yet dripping with elegance and ebullience. It goes for $68 at the winery, but you can grab it for a cool $22.53 on order of 6 bottles or more. And we greatly urge you to do just that! Basically, 6 for less than the price of 2 normally – AND free shipping. Now that’s a deal!
PAIRING IDEAS: Go with spiced lamb lettuce cups in radicchio with tzatziki – the rich meat spiced with some coriander, cumin, cinnamon, Aleppo pepper, and garlic, with the cooling, herby tzatziki will bring out all the scrumptious nuances of this wine.