(Decanter) - Where to find the best Californian Pinot Noir

The Anderson Valley

Slicing like a fjord inland from the cold sea, the Anderson Valley in Mendocino County is one of the chilliest grape-growing regions in California (this is where the House of Roederer established Roederer Estate after an eight-year hunt for a climate that would provide perfect acidity for sparkling wines). The Pinot Noir producers that are based here tend to be very small.

Sonoma Coast

Though it is a large, sprawling appellation (1,940km2), the Sonoma Coast is one of the least-planted areas. The best wines virtually always come from the coolest small slice that locals call the True Sonoma Coast. The vineyards here, often in sight of the Pacific, seem perpetually laced with fog.

Russian River Valley

The Russian River Valley is really three distinctly different places, with the warmer ‘Middle Reach’ growing Cabernet and Zinfandel. Only the coolest pockets work for Pinot Noir. Joseph Swann, Rochioli and Williams Selyem were pivotal early producers here, as was the sparkling wine house Iron Horse.

Carneros

About 64km north of San Francisco, Carneros spans the southern ends of both Napa and Sonoma, along the San Pablo Bay. The softly loping windswept hills here were once the exclusive domain of sheep (‘carneros’ is Spanish for ‘ram’). Louis M Martini pioneered Pinot Noir here in the 1940s; but it wasn’t until the 1980s (with wineries like Saintsbury, Acacia and Carneros Creek) that things got rolling.

Santa Lucia Highlands

One impressive southeast-facing bank of the Santa Lucia Mountains, the Santa Lucia Highlands is known for some of California’s boldest, flashiest and most powerful Pinots (the style favoured by several producers here including Roar and Pisoni Vineyards). This is a warm, dry part of California with less direct coastal exposure than most of the other AVAs.