Foxen 2021 Pinot Noir John Sebastiano Vineyard, Sta. Rita HIlls

The Foxen 2021 Pinot Noir, John Sebastiano Vineyard (Sta. Rita Hills) moves like a late dusk across coastal vines—soft, slow, and edged with detail. First, wild strawberry and that high-lit zip of blood orange rise, carried on currents of sea air, even before you taste a drop.

It doesn’t land, though—not yet. The glass opens, and black tea notes unfurl with a breath of dried sage and a hint of graphite—a thread of stone tension that threads fruit to soil. It’s calm, not cool; intricate, not precious.

Here, place isn’t a setting. Sta. Rita Hills tilts east–west so ocean breezes last longer, the soil leans rocky, friable—the vines respond by pinching back vigor and layering up clarity. John Sebastiano stands on the eastern slope of that, and the wine tastes like boundary—not constraint, but definition.

Tasting deeper, the wine reveals itself without rush. Gentle tannins hold the mid-palate, while spice—clove, saffron, crushed mint—drifts in the finish. Its architecture is subtle: it doesn’t fill space, it frames it.

Foxen makes this Pinot like a quiet edit. Native ferment, restrained new oak, rhythmic blending—not so much sculpted as revealed. You sense the winemaker leaned back and let the sense of place lead.

This is Pinot for the evening that stretches without demand. A book open beside wine, a memory passing between sips—the aura holds, doesn’t insist.

Foxen 2021 John Sebastiano Pinot Noir—quiet wind, steeped in place, page turned by thought, not show.