2005 Tolosa Winery Pinot Noir

Tolosa was founded in 1998 by Robin Baggett, Bob Schiebelhut and Jim Efird. The business partners began buying Edna Valley ranches and planting them with vineyards. Baggett was a native of the area who dreamed of running a cattle ranch as his grandfather had done, but by the late 1980s viticulture interested him more. Baggett in 2006 started the Alpha Omega wine venture in Napa Valley with the idea of making world class Bordeaux style wines. The success of Alpha Omega prompted him to focus on French style wines in Tolosa too, and in 2015 Baggett hired French native Frederic Elivert to craft Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on Tolosa’s Edna Valley estate. Consulting winemaker is Jean Hoefliger. Under its 1772 Series label Tolosa also produces small amounts of Rhone blends, Grenache and Sauvignon Blanc.

Central Coast AVA is a huge wine producing area that extends from Santa Barbara County in the south to San Francisco in the north. With more than 100,000 vineyard acres, it includes parts of six counties near the Pacific Ocean. Nearly 20 smaller AVAs lie within the Central Coast AVA. Central Coast earned appellation status in 1985. Included in the appellation are parts of the counties of Contra Costa, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz. Nearly every grape varietal grown in California is grown somewhere in the Central Coast AVA, though Chardonnay accounts for nearly 50% of the entire wine grape crop.

This red wine is relatively light and can pair with a wide variety of foods. The grape prefers cooler climates and the wine is most often associated with Burgundy, Champagne and the U.S. west coast. Regional differences make it nearly as fickle as it is flexible.