The Peter Martin Ray vineyard is part of the original planting of Pinot Noir on Mt. Eden above the town of Saratoga in the Eastern Santa Cruz Mountains. Dating to the late 1800?s this site is of historical significance as many of today’s modern Pinot plantings have been made with genetic material that originated on this hill. The vineyard is 3 acres of old stake trained vines that are dry-farmed at 1,600? in Franciscan Shale soils. The vineyard is still owned and farmed by Peter Martin Ray the son of legendary California vintner Martin ?Rusty? Ray. The site is exposed and the soils here are notoriously poor in nutrients which lead the the vines to struggle for survival. The resulting wine is true to its mountain grown roots and is a nod to the rich history of this site. We are honored to work with the Ray family and look forward to many more years of harvesting beautiful fruit from this plot.
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The 2021 Pinot Noir Peter Martin Ray Vineyard is dense, almost shockingly so for Arnot-Roberts. Dark cherry, cedar, tobacco, menthol and licorice are all turned up in a Pinot that captures all the natural intensity of this exposed hillside site at 1,400 feet in elevation. The 100% whole clusters are pretty much buried by the sheer intensity of the fruit. The 2021 is fabulous, but it is going to require at least several years of
cellaring.
-Anthony Galloni-VINOUS-95 points Drinking Window: 2026 – 2036, tasted January 2023