“San Jose-based producer Adam Comartin heads 1,100 feet up into the mountains to source fruit for this tremendous wine…” – Wine Enthusiast

Santa Crus Mountains! Where names you may recognize, Mount Eden, Rhys, Thomas Fogarty make WORLD-CLASS Pinot, along with a landscape dotted with tiny family-owned gems awaiting discovery.

We had never heard of Comartin Cellars, to be honest. But we were already big fans of the neighbor to R-Bar-R Ranch, Windy Oaks - another Pinot maker with a cult following. Perched atop the peaks of this windswept appellation with a view of the Pacific Ocean, R-Bar-R Ranch is where most of the rest of the world’s Pinot Noir vines dream of thriving at.

A well-kept local secret of sorts, Comartin Cellars often gets spotlighted in Silicon Valley circles, rarely seen outside of select wine shops and restaurants there. Adam Comartin cut his teeth at Testarossa before launching their own passion project with his wife Jennifer in 2008. His mantra is “I try to create balanced wines that are reflective of place, my wines tend to be a little more reserved, and more toward a soft-and-elegant style rather than a big, over-the-top style. I strive to craft wines that reflect the vineyard or region from which they come.”

Obviously so. Bold red fruits, touches of exotic spices, and dried mushrooms lead the aromatics and the flavors. Floral and mineral elements seduce the tastebuds in a silky robe. A touch of freshness extends it effortlessly for a good minute. Stylistically, no it’s a ‘no Pinot lover should miss this experience’ kinda red really, and at this price, a complex single vineyard from these parts is pretty much unheard of.

In fact, Food & Wine just called it “California Wine’s Best-Kept Secret” urging “never had a wine from the Santa Cruz Mountains? Now’s the time… right now it’s producing some of the state’s best Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, as well as several benchmark Cabernets… beautiful, with wineries tucked away amidst conifers and oaks and, on the western side, often graced with stunning views of the Pacific. You owe it to yourself to investigate.”

Could not have said it better - just a trunkful of cases was all we could grab - then it’s history.

92 Points – Wine Enthusiast

“This wine comes from a vineyard set at more than 1,000 feet on the southern tip of this mountainous appellation. Light in the glass, it is vibrant on the nose, with aromas of dried red flowers, red plum, cracked pepper and bay leaf. The herbal array of bay leaf and menthol on the palate give depth to the baked red plum and vanilla ripeness.”