Kleinlerer Wines 2022 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

The Wine

The grapes for this wine come from the Forestville AVA. A subset of the Russian River Valley AVE, Forestville is due West of Santa Rosa and is considered part of the "True" Sonoma Coast. The wine is 100% Pinot Noir, half of which was fermented with the whole cluster to add an element of steminess to the fruit notes.

It is the classic example of a "Natural wine" that is well made, i.e., it hasn't spoiled in the bottle, and can still bring great pleasure to the table. It's a wine that can age, but if you are into more immediate gratification, simply decant the wine into any clean glass container and let it sit for an hour before you begin to drink it. I know, that takes a bit of patience too, but it will be well worth it, trust me!

This wine is a blend of two clones: Pommard and Dijon 828. The Pommard clone has very expressive aromatics - wild strawberry, bing cherry and sandalwood. The Dijon 828 adds tannic structure and notes of blackberry and red plum. When you taste the wine, you can actually discern both clones. Cool, huh?

The wine is made by hand using native yeast, and aged in neutral oak barrels. It is 50% whole cluster, unfined, unfiltered, and produced with minimal SO2. While it’s “natural” per European standards, it’s bright and luscious on your palate.

Kudos:

90 Points “The 25 Best Pinot Noirs for 2024” Hannah Staab, Vinepair, April 17, 2024

90 Points, James Suckling

The Winery

Kleinlerer Wines was created by Sagie (SAY gee) Kleinlerer out of his lifelong passion for food and wine. At his core, Sagie is a wine geek with unbounded curiosity - just the sort of producer we love to have on our shleves, as our customers are equally curious. Prior to making wine on his own, Sagie traveled the world tasting wines, and in the process he built a wine collection consisiting of thousands of beautiful and interesting wines.

Now his passion is to make great wine less intimidating and more approachable for a broader swath of the population. As part of this effort, Sagie believes a solid foundation of knowledge is the proper starting point. So he works in wineries all around Northern California and has earned his WSET Level 4 Diploma (!!) in Wines and is currently becoming a Certified Sommelier from the Court of Master Sommeliers. 

Sagie describes his wines as being "made for passionate people who love to celebrate wine, good food, and special moments – or just love to open a good bottle on a weeknight. The wines are complex, sophisticated, and interesting – yet fun and unpretentious. Drink them with joy and laughter."