Cobb Wines: Playing the 'Pinot Noir long-game'

Cobb Wines Pinot Noir — Ross Cobb admires the lineup of Pinot Noirs.

(Image credit: Matthew Luczy / Decanter)

Cobb Wines: Factbox

Year founded 2001, by Ross Cobb

Annual production 2,500 cases, 200 of which are Chardonnay and Riesling

Vineyard sites:

Coastlands (6ha planted, 350m elevation, 3 miles from the ocean)

Emmaline Ann(1.2ha planted, 228m elevation, 4 miles from the ocean)

Rice-Spivak (2.4ha planted, 107m elevation, 6 miles from the ocean).

All lie within ‘Freestone-Occidental’, a subregion of the Sonoma Coast awaiting AVA approval. All farming is certified sustainable.

California Pinot Noir is never going to be Burgundy, and vice-versa, but there’s room for both – as Burgundy prices skyrocket, markets are expanding. As the climate changes, yields are plummeting. What were once ‘alternatives’ to Burgundy are becoming more than just exploratory curiosities.

The history, lineage, and dominance of Burgundy is a high hurdle to clear, and ends up functioning as a roadblock for a conversation focussing on delicious wines.

And it was made abundantly clear to me that it’s absolutely possible to grow, produce and enjoy Pinot Noir without any comparison to Burgundy when Ross Cobb visited Los Angeles in late 2019. He hosted a vertical tasting for a small group of sommeliers and distributor, spanning the 18-year history of this small Sonoma Coast winery. As all present at the time will attest, these wines have an identity all their own, and shouldn’t be considered ‘alternatives’ to anything.

Ross strikes a balance that’s hard to attain – wines that are soft and supple without being lazy; bright and clean without being tart. This winery is among the best in the state and has its eyes on the Pinot Noir long-game.

Scroll down to see Matthew’s tasting notes & scores

History

In 1989, Ross Cobb’s parents, David and Diane, purchased around 8ha of western Sonoma Coast property and planted 0.6ha of Pinot Noir, set up as a clonal nursery consisting of 14 different clones sourced from UC Davis. This would grow to become the Coastlands Vineyard, and this first plot would later be known as the Diane Cobb Block.

After a few years of the Coastlands fruit being sold off to Williams Seylem Winery, Cobb Wines was founded by Ross in 2001. He was then the assistant winemaker at Flowers Vineyard & Winery, and before that he was an assistant winemaker at Williams Selyem itself.

The vineyards

The vineyards of Coastlands, Emmaline Ann, and Rice-Spivak form the winery’s core production, and all fall within an unofficial subregion of the western Sonoma Coast known as Freestone-Occidental. Yields hover between 1.5- and 2-tons/acre. The coastal proximity instills a fine-grained salinity, giving these wines a soft, supple spine with a weightless, cleansing lift.

Winemaking

The goal at Cobb is to produce delicate and pretty wines that retain structure. Approximately 40% whole-cluster fermentation is used, and the wines are aged anywhere from 22-34 months in the barrel, the first year on gross lees, the second on fine lees. Around 35% of the François Frères and Remond barrels are new, and the bottled wines are held for two to four years before release.

How do they age?

I’ve consumed multiple bottles of Cobb’s Pinots over the course of three days, and only noticed the beginning of deterioration on the fourth day. Their ability to withstand oxygen parlays into the cellar as well: the 2001 Coastlands and 2006 Emmaline Ann show no signs of slowing down, and easily have another 10-15 years ahead of them.

Cobb Wines: Factbox

Scroll down to see Matthew’s tasting notes & scores

History

The vineyards

Winemaking

How do they age?

Cobb Wines Pinot Noirs tasted:

See all Cobb Wines tasting notes here

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Cobb, Coastlands Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2001

Cobb, Coastlands Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2002

Cobb, Coastlands & Rice-Spivak Vineyards Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2005

Cobb, Emmaline Ann Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2006

Cobb, Coastlands Vineyard Diane Cobb Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2009

Cobb, Emmaline Ann Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2009

Cobb, Coastlands Vineyard Diane Cobb Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2011

Cobb, Emmaline Ann Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2011

Cobb, Coastlands Vineyard Diane Cobb Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2012

Cobb, Coastlands Vineyard Diane Cobb Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2013

Cobb, Emmaline Ann Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2013

Cobb, Coastlands Vineyard Diane Cobb Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2014

Cobb, Coastlands Vineyard Old Firs Block Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2014

Cobb, Coastlands Vineyard 1906 Block Mount Eden Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2014

Cobb, Emmaline Ann Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2014

Cobb, Emmaline Ann Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2015

Cobb, Coastlands Vineyard Diane Cobb Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2017

Cobb, Coastlands Vineyard Diane Cobb Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2016

Cobb, Coastlands Vineyard Old Firs Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2018

Cobb, Coastlands Vineyard Old Firs Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2017

Cobb, Coastlands Vineyard Old Firs Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2016

Cobb, Doc's Ranch Swan & Calera Selection Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2018

Cobb, Doc's Ranch Vineyard Pommard & 114 Selection Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2018

Cobb, Doc's Ranch Vineyard Pommard & 114 Selection Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2017

Cobb, Doc's Ranch Vineyard Swan & Calera Selection Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2017

Cobb, Emmaline Ann Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2018

Cobb, Emmaline Ann Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2017

Cobb, Emmaline Ann Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2016

Cobb, Jack Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2016

Cobb, Jack Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2015

Cobb, Monticue Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2018

Cobb, Monticue Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2016

Cobb, Rice-Spivak Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2017

Cobb, Rice-Spivak Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2016

Cobb, Rice-Spivak Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2015

Cobb, Wendling Vineyard Pinot Noir, Mendocino County, Anderson Valley, California, USA, 2017