Sean Minor 2023 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

Sean Minor’s 2023 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir arrives with poise, not pronouncement. It opens on the nose with baked cherry, plum, blueberry, and a thread of cedar bark that holds the fruit together while offering lift. There’s a floral hint—violets, a wisp of dark cocoa—subtle but grounding. 

On the palate, the wine is structured yet energetic. It’s medium-bodied and layered, with cherry and berry coulis merging into cinnamon spice and a touch of caramel. The finish unfolds slowly—there’s sweetness at first, then darker spice notes edge in. The overall effect is linear and refined, not full-throttle or overwrought. 

What impresses is how the place translates through restraint. Sonoma Coast injects cool-climate clarity into the fruit—this isn’t big; it’s chiselled. The acid is lively but in service of the architecture, while tannins remain fine enough to guide without pulling. 

Sean Minor built this with thought, not flash. You taste intention in the balance—sourced from Pommard and Dijon clones, hand-harvested in cool hours, cold-soaked, and aged ten months in 20% new French oak. That oak frames, it doesn’t weigh. 

This is a Pinot that rewards attention but doesn’t demand it. Layered in detail, carried on structure, with nothing superfluous. It reads like Sonoma Coast in seamless translation—refined, anchored, and real.