Brand's Heritage
In 1996, with 40 years of winemaking experience under their belt, Jim and Mary Dierberg’s dream of producing wines worthy of their long term plan became a reality. After a long search through France and Napa, while learning the craft and making wine in the mid-west, they discovered the potential of Santa Barbara’s cool coastal valleys.
The Central Coast's cool-weather terroir is exemplified at the two estate vineyards that provide Pinot Noir and Chardonnay for Dierberg Estate: the original Dierberg Vineyard in Santa Maria - planted in 1997 - and the newer Drum Canyon vineyard located farther to the south in the Santa Rita Hills. In both vineyards, cooling Pacific Ocean fog and breezes keep this sunny corner of California far cooler than one would imagine. This phenomenon favors crisp acidity and gentle ripening in classic Burgundian Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. These estates, along with the family’s iconic warm climate site Star Lane Vineyard, culminated in a trio of peerless properties in Santa Barbara County.
Today, winemaker Tyler Thomas oversees the intricacies of the Dierberg’s winemaking operations and details. With the belief that it takes great vineyards and great people to make peerless wines, Dierberg Winery aims to produce compelling, fresh, and deftly crafted wines while maintaining high standards of stewardship, sustainability, and customer service.
Great Vineyards and Great People
Dieberg Pinot Noir
2013 Santa Maria Valley
The 2013 Pinot Noir was an early vintage with fruit ripening. As a result, the winemakers anticipated ripe, dark fruit qualities and some mitigation of classic earthy tones from Dierberg Vineyard. Stem inclusion was utilized to a degree, which compliment dark fruit tones with hints of savory spice and earthy tones. In addition, this added structure to what is a richer vintage. Given the added depth, winemakers significantly reduced barrel aging in new French oak to 15 months to ensure the sweet structure from oak was in line with the early vintage.
VINTAGE
WINE TYPE
VARIETAL
WINE STYLE
ALCOHOL/VOL.
SUGAR CONTENT.
SWEETNESS.
REGION
WINEMAKER
2013
Red
Pinot Noir
Big and Bold
14.8%
7 g/L
Dry- No sweetness perceived; well-rounded with balanced acidity
Santa Maria Valley, Central Coast, California
Tyler Thomas
Robert Parker (The Wine Advocate) – 92 points
"The winery's estate release Pinot Noir, and a terrific wine, the 2013 Pinot Noir Estate comes from the Dierberg Vineyard and saw 20% stems and aging in 25% new French oak. It's classic Pinot all the way and has an incredibly silky, seamless texture, textbook and perfumed aromatics (rose petal, sweet black cherries), and a balanced, harmonious feel that keeps you coming back to the glass. I'm a fan. While great now, it will continue drinking nicely for another 5-6 years."
Antonio Galloni (Vinous) – 91 points
"The 2013 Pinot Noir Dierberg Vineyard is plump, juicy and full of up-front appeal. Dark red cherry, violets, rose petal and mint abound in a succulent, nicely textured Pinot to drink over the next handful of years. This is an especially open-knit vintage for the Dierberg. The 2013 was fermented with a touch of whole clusters and spent 15 months in French oak barrels, 25% new."
The Wine Enthusiast – 89 points
“There's a lot of rust and blood aromas on the nose of this wine, with pencil lead and black slate keeping up that mineral-driven sensibility. The flavors are light and earthy, with juniper laced across a strawberry-blossom core, showing a touch of black olive and crushed sage as well.”
Accolades