2020 Pinot Noir La Rinconada

Trey Fletcher follows his stellar 2019s with a very fine set of 2020s. Naturally, the wines show the limitations of a very challenging year. Specifically, in a range in which so many wines are block selections, there is no getting around the fact that those micro-differences will be less accentuated in a year in which the final phase of ripening was accelerated. Fletcher describes 2020 as a year with a very cool summer, until heat spikes arrived in mid-August. Opening the canopies early in the summer led to sunburn and therefore the loss of some spots. As was the case with everyone who could, Fletcher picked earlier than originally predicted. He also opted to destem the Pinot entirely in order to remove any possibility of smoke taint in the wines. Sanford Winery continues to be one of the recent success stories in Santa Barbara.