Great Sustainable Wine: LAFOND Pinot Noir SRH

By Johannes Marlena

The palate instantly recognizes a wine with special qualities. Ethereal in texture and delightfully complex yet full of clarity, the 2016 LAFOND Pinot Noir SRH (for “Sta. Rita Hills”) leaves behind a lasting, memorable impression of purity, freshness and vibrancy. 

Does sustainable wine make it a better wine? Yes, it does. We see a future where the majority of consumers will absolutely demand that wineries which they support with their retail dollars have implemented environmentally-responsible vineyard practices.

This review is part of our ongoing series spotlighting great wines from sustainable wineries.

On the nose—bright yet warm, joyful scents of clove, dark cherries and plum. Then, beautiful acidity alive with spirited energy dances all over the palate. It’s a symphony—no, a string quartet of complex notes and flavors in the mouth. Well-delineated and structured, the lifted voices in the glass play against each other in nuanced harmony… notes of dark cranberry and hibiscus, and an undertone of earthiness, emerge. This is Haydn all the way. 

After all these years, Santa Barbara Pinot Noir is still a “thing.” And Lafond—one of the pioneering names of Santa Barbara County, and one winery who put a priority on sustainability long before it was fashionable, commercially viable or a political talking-point—still makes one of the best Santa Barbara Pinots for the money.  –J.M.

 

Find this wine at a store near you, or purchase online:

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September 8, 2019