Sandhi, 'White Buffalo Land Trust' Pinot Noir, California, 2022

Overview of the Wine
Sandhi is a small production California winery focusing on select vineyards from the Sta. Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County. Sandhi was founded in 2010 by Rajat Parr, the wine director for Michael Mina Restaurants, and winemaker, Sashi Moorman.

Sandhi represents a union essential to the production of wine: the collaboration between man, earth, and vine. The willing participation of all three elements is necessary to make great wine, and the winegrower must make this collaboration rich and nourishing for all involved. An understanding of these joint efforts informs Sandhi’s exploration of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines throughout the Santa Barbara County terroir.

The individual vineyards from which these grapes originate–some legendary, some new–have been exhaustively vetted for character, personality, and balance. Employing the wisdom and talents of people who know the vineyards, Sandhi is dedicated to making wines of finesse, minerality, acidity, structure and balance. Wine achieves power and beauty through the seamless integration of these qualities, and this is the inspiration for Sandhi. Wines exhibiting extreme ripeness, alcohol, oak, and other discordant exaggerations cannot truly express a specific vineyards terroir.

Grape / Blend
100% Pinot Noir

Origin
Jalama Canyon Ranch, Santa Barbara, California

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
Lindsey Ross is a California-based artist who primarily works with large format photography and the 19th century process, wet-plate collodion. Ross started working in this process in 2011 and she quickly realized it was the ideal format for her artistic practice. Ross seeks autonomy yet, at the same time, a sense of connection. The slow pace of collodion requires a presence and intimacy that connects Ross to both the physical and spiritual world. To honor the rugged beauty of Jalama Canyon Ranch and underscore the importance of place to the character of wine, Sandhi and The White Buffalo Land Trust invited Lindsey Ross to capture it through her unique eye and detailed process. The label is a work of art.

Aged for eight months in neutral barrels after undergoing native fermentation in concrete vessels, this wine is 100% Pinot Noir.  "It is the perfect intertwining of fruit and earth - the nose shares notes of blackberry, cowboy sage, and fall foliage. Fresh raspberries and delicate lilac are complemented by soft, elegant tannins on the palate.

93 Points - Wine Enthusiast
Plum and pomegranate aromas meet with lavender, rose oil and bay leaf on the nose of this bottling. There's a gamy kick to the palate, where savory spices of cracked pepper and thyme elevate the snappy red-plum flavors.

93 Points - Vinous
The second vintage of the Sandhi White Buffalo Land Trust Pinot Noir and a lens into the coastal wildness of Jalama Canyon Ranch. Grown just ten miles from the Pacific, this regeneratively farmed vineyard serves as a testing ground and classroom to promote farming practices that conserve water, preserve soil, and foster a healthy microbiome. Juicy red plum, crunchy juniper, cola and a hint of blistered Castelvetrano Olives meet a light, refreshing palate. Like the sea itself, salty, mineral undertones rise and hang on, offering length with tannic backbone.

Product size: 750ml