2022 LaRue - Pinot Noir Sonoma (750ml)

LaRue Wines was founded in 2009 by winemaker Katy Wilson, who named the label after her great-grandmother, Veona LaRue Newell, a woman she describes as bold and independently minded. Wilson trained at Testarossa, Torbreck in Australia's Barossa Valley, Joseph Phelps, Craggy Range in New Zealand, and Flowers Winery before launching her own project, and the winery remains woman and minority owned to this day. In 2021 her husband, sommelier David Meneses, joined the business and helped introduce a companion Bordeaux-focused label, though LaRue itself stays centered on small-lot Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the Sonoma Coast.

This bottling is a barrel selection drawn from LaRue's single vineyard sites, among them Rice-Spivak, Thorn Ridge, and Emmaline Ann, all farmed with the same hands-off philosophy that defines Wilson's approach. After roughly fifteen months in barrel, she tastes through every lot and chooses the most fruit forward, open barrels to build the final blend, which then finishes about twenty months total in oak before bottling.

The wine leans toward red fruit and floral aromatics, with wild strawberry and cherry notes layered over a backbone of crushed rock and earth. The texture stays bright and precise rather than heavy, reflecting the cool coastal sites it comes from. It pairs well with braised duck leg, a root vegetable gratin, or a nutty aged Comté.