2019 Hirsch Pinot Noir Block 8
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Tasting notes
The 2019 Pinot Noir Block 8 is rich with mineral earth, sage, cedar, and black cherry. The palate is by far the most generous of the Hirsch wines, with mouth-filling fruit that carries through the mid-palate and finish. It has a more assertive nature all around and is the most powerful of the Hirsch selections. This is an incredible wine to drink over the next 15 or more years. Located in Fort Ross, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, David Hirsch purchased his estate in 1978 and planted his first vines in 1980. The 2019 vintage, which was predominantly what was shown to me, marks the first vintage with his daughter, Jasmine Hirsch, taking the lead as winemaker for the estate. They have been practicing biodynamic viticulture since 2011 and were fully converted over in 2014. Their focus and attention is on the site, resulting in wines that offer elegance and purity, with transparency in regard to their sense of place.
Critic scores
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Jancis Robinson MW
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
The 2019 Pinot Noir Block 8 comes from 30-year-old vines on a section of the property that Jasmine Hirsch calls the "grand cru" of the vineyards there. It's incredibly expressive, due in part to the idyllic conditions of 2019 and also from an evolution in winemaking. Jasmine took over winemaking duties in 2019 and has increased extraction a bit, resulting in a deep core of dark red fruit. The Block 8 offers spicy aromas of dried cranberries and red cherries, peppercorn, garrigue, citrus peel and bitters, with a structure that balances powerful flavor and juicy freshness. Grainy and latent, I suspect it will continue to evolve in bottle over the next 3-5 years.
Made entirely from estate fruit and biodynamically farmed. This is a block-specific bottling from a portion of the vineyard that has consistently shown a strong, recognisable signature since its founding. 28% whole cluster. 30% new oak with 16 months' ageing. This is the most overtly, typically California Pinot in the Hirsch line up. With the other cuvées I would smell the wine and be hit by a range of aromatics and be intrigued by that distinctive note. With the Block 8 I put my nose in the glass and immediately thought, oh that smells exactly of California Pinot. It is perhaps less complex or nuanced than the other block-specific wines from Hirsch, but it is also exactly what we want from California Pinot Noir – there is plenty of tannin but not too much, the wine focuses on red fruit with an accent of cola, forest notes denote the region, and a sprinkle of spice tells a bit of the ageing regime. Most of all it is pleasantly textural, lengthy and mouth-watering – a pleasing California Pinot. (ECB)
The 2019 Pinot Noir Block 8 is fabulous. That’s evident, but it is also shockingly tight. Readers will have to be quite patient, as the 2019 is completely shut down. There is so much energy and textural intensity here, as those qualities need time to come together. Rose petal, lavender, spice and gravel linger. Pommard and Waydensvil clone Pinot on Boomer-Mendocino soils are magical here.