Hirsch Vineyards "San Andreas Fault" Pinot Noir 2022
(Sonoma Coast, California) - [JS 95] [WA 94] [JD 94] [DM 94] [VM 93] [W&S 93]

About the Winery:
Lying adjacent to the San Andreas Fault on the extreme western Sonoma Coast, Hirsch Vineyards is comprised of 72 acres, divided into 67 individual farming blocks. This degree of fragmentation is unmatched even by the famously subdivided vineyards of Burgundy’s Côte de Nuits. Due to the site’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean and the San Andreas Fault, the vineyard has a fearsome diversity of soils, aspects, elevations and microclimates. This complexity defines our farming and winemaking practices: each block was individually developed and is now farmed, harvested and vinified separately.

About this Wine:
The Hirsch Vineyards San Andreas Fault Pinot Noir is the flagship wine from Hirsch, and the wine that represents the summation of their complex vineyard. The 2022 San Andreas is classic, elegant and consummately Hirsch. The nose evokes their wild coastal mountains, with aromatics of dried sage, wild mint and wet stone adding interest to notes of Bing cherry and Alpine strawberries. There’s a hint of the Pacific Ocean in its mineral, saline character. The palate is juicy, fresh and high-toned, with lithe tannins and a very long finish.  The San Andreas is showing very well already, although giving it an hour of air before drinking is recommended.

Technical Information

• Practicing Biodynamic
• 100% Pinot Noir
• Fort-Ross Seaview, West Sonoma Coast AVA
• Clonal breakdown: 49% Pommard-Wädenswil, 18% Swan, 18% Dijon 114/777, 14% Mt. Eden, 1% Calera
• Fruit sourced from 34 distinct farming blocks of Hirsch Vineyard
• Each block farmed, harvested, and vinified separately
• Vine age: 49% from the 2000s, 50%  from the 1990s, 1% from the 1980s
• 12% whole cluster inclusion
• Aged in French oak barrels (34% new)
• 13.5% Abv

Ratings & Reviews

95 Points - James Suckling:
"Black cherries, blackberries, flint and matchsticks come through on the nose. Medium-bodied with a savory and supple character. The tannins are totally integrated and polished. Tangy and minerally at the end. Drink or hold." (Feb 2025)

94 Points - Wine Advocate:
"The 2022 Pinot Noir San Andreas Fault has intense, inviting aromas of pomegranate, raspberry and blood orange, plus nuances of rooibos tea, forest floor and bitters. The medium-bodied palate offers concentrated, layered flavors. It’s framed by refined, chalky tannins and vibrant acidity, and it has a long, flavorful finish. 1,000 cases were made." - Erin Brooks (Ayg 2025)

94 Points - Jeb Dunnuck:
"Moving to the 2022s, the 2022 Pinot Noir San Andreas Fault pours a more saturated medium red color, and the nose shows notes of ripe cherries, dark stones, wild herbs, and fresh earth. Medium-bodied, it offers balanced density of fruit, with a supple texture, ripe tannins, and a clean, stony, mouthwatering finish. While they typically produced around 3000 cases of this cuvée, in this vintage they were only able to produce 900 cases. Drink 2025-2035." - Audrey Frick (Jul 2025)

94 Points - Decanter Magazine:
This vintage of the San Andreas is full of personality—playful but with plenty of depth. It has aromas of fresh eucalyptus and dried herbs and earthy notes of forest floor and shiitake mushrooms. On the palate, you'll get bright flavours of blood orange and cranberries, giving a long, pleasant finish. The silky tannins make for an exciting and balanced wine." - Ana Carolina Quintela (Jan 2025)

93 Points - Vinous Media:
"The 2022 Pinot Noir Estate San Andreas Fault is quite the powerhouse. Incisive floral and savory notes weave through a deep core of fruit. All the natural intensity of the year comes through in this dense, concentrated Pinot. The 2022 is going to need time to soften. Yields were a minuscule 1.1 tons per acre." - Antonio Galloni (Jan 2025)

93 Points - Wine & Spirits Magazine:
"The Hirsch family credits the fault line running through their estate for the jumble of geology, a complex puzzle they have worked to solve by dividing their 72 acres of vines into 67 farming blocks. San Andreas is their estate blend, an overview that Jasmine Hirsch blended from 34 of those blocks in 2022.It was a dry season on the far coast, with 30 percent less rain than in a normal year; the sunny weather was relatively mild, with few days over 90 degrees. The fruit was ripe by late August, just as September began to cool; the harvest crew at Hirsch picked all of its fruit in two weeks.The San Andreas blend shows beautiful integration, its time in oak having brought all of those elements together in brooding harmony. It has the dark richness of fruity forest mushrooms over a complex matrix of fruit, taking those darker tones into brighter notes of strawberry and rhubarb. Fine, spicy and lasting." (Apr 2024)