Why it matters
The producer
Hirsch Vineyards sits on a coastal ridge above the Pacific in the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA, a sub-appellation of the West Sonoma Coast where the ocean is close enough to read in the wine. David Hirsch bought the land in the late 1970s and planted the first Pinot Noir vines in 1980, before the West Sonoma Coast had a name as a wine region. A friend had identified the exposed site as one where Burgundian varieties might work. That was the whole argument. The estate now farms 68 acres of Pinot Noir and 4 acres of Chardonnay divided into 60 distinct parcels.
Jasmine Hirsch, David's daughter, serves as both General Manager and Winemaker. The estate is entirely single-vineyard: all fruit comes from the ridge, wine is made on the property, and the range is built to show what 60 different parcels on one coastal hill can produce.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Fort Ross-Seaview is a small AVA carved out of the western edge of Sonoma County, on ridges that sit between 1,200 and 2,200 feet above sea level and face the Pacific directly. The climate is governed by marine air, persistent fog, and a short growing window. Temperatures rarely push into the heat range that California Pinot Noir is often associated with, and the cold nights preserve natural acidity in the fruit.
The consequence on the label is measurable. Hirsch Pinot Noir and Chardonnay carry higher acidity, lower alcohol, and more mineral character than most California bottles made from the same grapes. The fruit ripens slowly and unevenly across the 60 parcels, which is partly why parcel-by-parcel vinification matters here. What the site produces is not interchangeable across blocks.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Sixty parcels on a single estate is an unusually fine-grained breakdown. It allows each block to be harvested at its own moment, fermented separately, and assessed before blending decisions are made. The Reserve Pinot Noir draws on multiple clones: the 2022 vintage was 58% Pommard-Wädenswil, 21% Mount Eden, 16% Swan, and 5% Dijon 114. The Pommard-Wädenswil component tends toward earthy, spiced character; Mount Eden and Dijon 114 contribute floral lift and brighter acidity. The Reserve ages for 16 months in 31% new French oak, low enough that the oak reads as a secondary layer rather than a primary flavour.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range has four principal bottles. The Estate Pinot Noir draws on the full 60-parcel vineyard and is the broadest expression of the ridge: cool-climate Pinot with earthy depth and coastal mineral character, built for earlier drinking than the Reserve. The Reserve Pinot Noir is the blended statement wine, assembling the strongest parcels from the vintage with a multi-clone composition and the longest oak ageing in the range. It has drawn a 96-point score from VinePair for the 2020 vintage and shows fruit, depth, acidity, and tannin in proportion, with a mid-palate weight the Estate bottling does not aim for.
Block 8 is the single-block extreme: one parcel, red volcanic bedrock, iron oxide soils, and the estate's highest natural acidity. The wine runs toward crushed rock, mint, dried herbs, white pepper, and citrus flowers with a taut, mineral finish. It is the most site-specific bottle in the range, and the one furthest from the warmer end of California Pinot Noir.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Block 8 Pinot Noir is the most direct argument for what the Hirsch ridge is. One parcel, red volcanic bedrock and iron oxide soils, no blending across blocks. The wine opens with crushed rock, white pepper, and dried herbs, with citrus flowers lifting the top of the nose. The acidity is high and the tannin firm but not coarse, and the finish is long, mineral, and cool. There is no California fruit weight here, no warmth on the mid-palate, no open red fruit. This is a Pinot Noir shaped entirely by where it grew. Start with Block 8 to understand what the site does, then return to the Reserve to see what the cellar adds.