One of the great stops in Sonoma, Sojourn Cellars has been creating outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay now for more than two decades. It all dates back to 2001 when two tennis friends–Craig Haserot and Erich Bradley–who shared a passion for two things: great wine and tennis. With Erich’s experience as an Assistant Winemaker at Arrowood Winery, the two developed a plan to produce small bottlings of Cabernet Sauvignon from outstanding vineyard sources. They began with a hundred cases of Cabernet Sauvignon that they sold to our friends and family. Today they produce 21 different wines and have customers worldwide. Last spring I had a chance to taste some older bottlings and was particularly impressed with how well their Chardonnay cellars. Their 2012 Chards were incredible!
The new wines I tasted come from the 2022 vintage which was somewhat tricky to navigate due to intense heat at harvest. These were beautiful wines with serious stuffing and texture. Don’t miss out on the world-class 2022 Sojourn ‘Gap’s Crown Vineyard’ Pinot Noir (OB, 96) which is big and burly with serious salty soil character from this amazing site that neighbors the Pacific Ocean. Learn more about these great wines at sojourn cellars.com and here are my reviews of the beautiful new release wines by Sojourn Cellars.
2022 Sojourn Cellars ‘Sonoma Coast’ Chardonnay- The 2022 Sojourn Cellars ‘Sonoma Coast’ Chardonnay comes from several sites in this windswept AVA that neighbors the Pacific Ocean. On the nose this takes on peach and saline drenched pear notes alongside brioche and salted Macadamia nut. The palate is plush and soft with a refined texture, and great sense of elegance. Finishing exceedingly long with vanilla cream and salted melon fruits, this is an outstanding 2022 bottling that will provide drinking enjoyment over the next eight plus years to come. Drink 2024-2032- 94
2022 Sojourn Cellars ‘Sangiacomo Vineyard’ Chardonnay- The Sangiacomo Vineyard is located in the Sonoma Coast AVA. The palate is soft and rich with great flavor density and weight. Rich Meyer lemon cream combines with toasted hazelnut, buttered French bread and shades of Pink Lady apple on the palate. Rich and polished, this is delicious wine that is already drinking beautifully. Drink 2024-2032- 94
2022 Sojourn Cellars ‘Petaluma Gap’ Pinot Noir- The 2022 ‘Petaluma Gap’ Pinot Noir comes from a range of sites in this new AVA. Cranberry and cola notes combine on the nose with freshly tilled damp soils. The palate is rich and beautifully ytrxturtd with good weight and underlying verve. A fantastic core of red fruits greet you on the palate, alongside citrus zest, tobacco leaf and shades of wet stone. Bright and fresh, enjoy this lively new Pinot Noir bottling no and over the next ten plus years. Drink 2024-2034- 94
2022 Sojourn Cellars ‘Nightwing Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- Owned by MacRostie, the Nightwing Vineyard is set on a hillside at 1200 feet. This wine is very juicy, round and downright delicious. Cola and cran-orange flavors collide with underbrush and freshly tilled salty soils on the palate. Complex and delicious, this is going to be really popular with any lover of top notch Sonoma Pinot Noir. Great now, enjoy over the next ten plus years to come. Drink 2024-2037- 95
2022 Sojourn Cellars ‘Sonoma Coast’ Pinot Noir- This 2022 Pinot Noir comes form the Sonoma Coast AVA. On the nose this exudes class with menthol and red rose petals alongside cran-ornage notes. The palate is soft and rich with a smooth texture. Bright red fruits parade with salty soils and Mandarin orange rind flavors on the palate. Drink 2024-2034- 93
2022 Sojourn Cellars ‘Rodgers Creek Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- The 2022 ‘Rodgers Creek Vineyard’ sits high on a ridge in the Sonoma Coast AVA. This is rich and viscous Pinot Noir with serious focus and underlying tension. Rich cranberry and wild blackberry fruit flavors mingle well with freshly tilled soils and suggestions of bay leaf on the palate. Finishing long this dense and chewy bottling is already showing beautifully. Drink 2024-2040- 95
2022 Sojourn Cellars ‘Gap’s Crown Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- For years I have admired wines for the famed ‘Gap’s Crown Vineyard’ — a site that straddles the Pacific Ocean. This 2022 edition is arguably the finest Pinot Noir wine that I have tasted from Sojourn. On the nose this shows off salty red fruits alongside sea salt dusted blood orange zest, tobacco and shades of crushed wet rock. The palate is soft and inviting with a smooth texture and a dense core of salty mineral-laden guava, strawberry and red cherry fruit flavors. Quite simply a joy to drink now, enjoy this savory and salty Pinot Noir over the next fifteen years to come. This one literally screams terroir. Drink 2024-2040- 96
2022 Sojourn Cellars ‘Sangiacomo Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- The Sangiacomo Vineyard is a cool, windswept site located in the Sonoma Coast AVA. This is juicy with its pomegranate seed and guava fruit flavors that mingle well with red cherry, kumquat and stony minerals on the palate. Finishing long with red fruits and copious minerals, this is a beautiful new bottling that will cellar well for another fifteen plus years. Drink 2024-2040- 94
2022 Sojourn Cellars ‘Wohler Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- This outstanding 2022 Pinot Noir comes from the Wohler Vineyard which is centered in the middle of the Russian River Valley and set on Goldridge soils. The wine has outstanding finesse with a very juicy core of red fruits that parade with damp soils, cigar box, and shades of wet rock on the palate. Inviting now, this will surely live on for another fifteen years to come. Drink 2024-2039- 95
2022 Sojourn Cellars ‘Walala Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- This magical new 2022 Pinot Noir bottling comes from this site neighboring the Pacific Ocean. It is very salty and intense with dark raspberry and black cherry flavors that combine with salty soils, wet stone and suggestions of Satsuma orange zest on the palate. Full-bodied, with a great mineral backbone, this is both dense and well-structured wine that will easily live on for another ten plus years. Drink 2024-2039- 95
2021 Sojourn Cellars ‘Stagecoach Vineyard’ Cabernet Sauvignon- For years I have admired Cabernets from this high elevation site that overlooks the Napa Valley. The wine is brooding and deep, showing off beautiful black florals in the glass, alongside freshly tilled rocky soils, cigar box, black currants and shades of espresso grounds. The palate is soft and seamless, with serious verve and a pillowy texture. The amalgamation of freshness and weight works beautifully here, as this is already drinking marvelously in its heady youth. Drink 2024-2040- 95
2021 Sojourn Cellars ‘Atlas Peak’ Cabernet Sauvignon- The outstanding 2021 Sojourn Cellars ‘Atlas Peak’ Cabernet Sauvignon comes from two sites in this district. It comes off rich and viscous with layers of dark currants, coffee grounds and dark chocolate shavings on the palate, alongside plenty of stony minerals. Finishing long with black fruits and lovely weight, enjoy this outstanding bottling over the next fifteen plus years to come. Drink 2024-2040- 95
2021 Sojourn Cellars ‘Home Ranch Cuvee’ Cabernet Sauvignon- The ‘Home Ranch Cuvee’ comes from this southwestern Sonoma County site which was planted by Sojourn founder Craig Haserot in 2002. This is heady and concentrated Sonoma Cabernet with cassis, mocha, tar and shades of violets on the nose. The palate has a smooth mouthfeel, with plenty of tension and finesse alongside the core of black and blue fruits. With more air milk chocolate and espresso ground flavors add to the enjoyment, as this well-structured beauty will cellar well for another twenty years to come — yet is irresistible in its youth. Drink 2024-2040- 94
2021 Sojourn Cellars ‘Beckstoffer Vineyard Georges III’ Cabernet Sauvignon- This beautiful wine comes from this Rutherford site that was first planted in 1895 by Mrs. Thomas Rutherford. This 300-acre parcel first purchased by Beaulieu founder Georges de Latour in 1928 and called Beaulieu Vineyard Number 3. Inky in the glass, this offers an opulent texture once on the mouth. Layers of creme de cassis, anise, graphite, creme de violette, tar and allspice dusted black cherry all brilliantly combine on the palate, with loamy soil accents. A joy to drink now in its full-throttle youth, enjoy this brilliant new wine now and over the next twenty plus years to come. Drink 2024-2044- 96