Mail Road, Mount Carmel Vineyard Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills, California, 2021

Overview of the Wine
MAIL ROAD is a project born of a commitment to place.

We strive to produce wines of uncompromising excellence and distinction. Impossible-to-forget wines. Wines that open hearts and engage minds. Wines that are powerful, yet graceful and balanced. Wines that reveal the passion and uncompromising craft that went in their creation. Fifty miles northwest of Santa Barbara, California, on a steep, south-facing cliff, a short few miles from the Pacific Ocean, Mail Road meets its end at the geographic center of The Sta. Rita Hills AVA, the historic and iconic Mt. Carmel Vineyard. The wines produced by Mt. Carmel fruit are remarkable in their lean toward site specifically and marked by deep concentration, exceptional depth, structural complexity and bracing acidity.

Organic.

Grape / Blend
Pinot Noir

Origin
Sta. Rita Hills, Santa Barbara, California

Winemaker Matt Dees Tasting Notes
Mount Carmel Vineyard is the exclusive purveyor to Mail Road Wines.  Mount Carmel Vineyard is located on a steep, south-facing cliff, north of the Santa Ynez River. Established in 1990 by Ron and Nancy Piazza, the vineyard is planted to a variety of own-rooted, organically and principally dry farmed, heritage Pinot Noir and Chardonnay clones. The vineyard is at 800 to 1000 feet elevation, with botella clay, limestone, diatomaceous earth, calcerous deposits and sandy loam soils.

97 Points - Jeb Dunnuck 
Moving to the 2021 releases, the 2021 Pinot Noir Mount Carmel Vineyard is slightly deeper ruby-hued and has a gorgeous perfume of ripe red and black fruits, scorched earth, graphite, white pepper, and obvious minerality. It’s stunning on the palate as well, with medium to full body, integrated acidity, and ripe yet building tannins. I love its purity, and it’s rich and concentrated yet stays graceful, well-balanced, and light on its feet. Give bottles a year or three and enjoy over the following decade.

Product size: 750ml