Cattleya Cuvée Number Eight Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 2021

Bibiana Gonzalez Rave crafts some of California's most thoughtful, precise, and inspired examples of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir we have ever tasted! Year after year, her wines emit purity, wisdom, and adventure, guiding you on a journey through her soul by way of the places she adores. Incredible vineyard sites, careful terroir-driven farming, attention to detail, and a joyful spirit are inside every bottle of Cattleya Wine. Along with her husband, Jeff Pisoni, she’s one half of the winemaking team at Shared Notes, a perennial ACME favorite that sells out in minutes. We’re delighted to debut the strikingly beautiful debut Cattleya, Cuvée Number Eight, Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast 2021…$68. This is the latest, impressive Pinot Noir from one of the most talented winemakers we know!

Born and raised in Medellín, Colombia, a place well known for things other than wine, Bibiana studied business and chemical engineering before ever picking up a wine book. Vineyards and wine production were non-existent in Colombia at the time. The tropical climate is more favorable to coffee, flowers, and exotic fruits. Even though she became interested in wine at a young age, with the occasional sip stolen from her father’s glass around the holidays or at a special event, the absence of a real wine culture left Bibiana without any immediate opportunity to explore grape-growing and winemaking. As a child, when years of violence and destruction by drug cartels became a major part of everyone’s lives, her family instilled the core values that make her the spirited human and resolute force in winegrowing that she is today. Through hard work, tenacity, and honesty combined with an unwavering pursuit of excellence, she eventually landed in France and enrolled at the University of Bordeaux to follow her dream of someday making wine. Two degrees and countless harvests later, in 2012, Cattleya Wines was born. Named for the national flower of her homeland, there is a Cattleya Orchid on the label to honor her family and her upbringing in Colombia. The wines themselves are driven by Bibiana’s experiences, made whole from her technical training at the likes of first-growth Bordeaux Château Haut-Brion. While abroad, she focused equally on vineyard cultivation and winemaking and not long after grew hungry for the land of opportunity. Stateside, she took the rains as consulting winemaker at Pahlmeyer in 2012 while simultaneously spearheading vineyard management for their new Pinot Noir project Wayfarer and launching her passion project, Cattleya Wines. In 2015 she was named San Francisco Chronicle’s Winemaker of the Year. 

Shades of deep violet, this Pinot Noir from the high elevation slopes on the Sonoma Coast opens with restrained notes of brown spice and sandalwood before adding layers of dark berry compote and toasted vanilla. Dense and immensely concentrated, the palate offers superb structure surrounded by youthful notes of juicy blackberry and Oolong tea.