2022 Guarachi Family Wines Pinot Noir Sun Chase Vineyard Petaluma Gap 750 ml

The Petaluma Gap is one of the most sought-after Pinot Noir AVAs in Sonoma County. Sun Chase Vineyard is a big reason why.

Back in 2013, Alex Guarachi was so impressed by what wineries like Bevan were doing with this site, he bought the vineyard, a very savvy move. Before long, wineries like Kosta Browne and Carte Blanche and Pinot legend Greg La Follette were lining up to buy fruit.

These days, Sun Chase’s very best blocks go into Guarachi’s Sun Chase Pinot. 

The 2022 Sun Chase is a deep, dark Pinot that Wine Enthusiast says “flood[s] the palate with deliciousness” in their 94-point review. It hails from a Sonoma County vintage Wine Advocate called “Outstanding.”

The southwest-facing site produces wines that are big, dark, and powerful, thanks in part to the preponderance of clone 777, which makes for dark, tropical Pinot. The 777 is accompanied by the Swan Clone and the Calera Clone, which some say originated in DRC’s La Tâche vineyard.

Situated in a gap between coastal mountains and an inland valley, Sun Chase pulls in brisk, salty ocean breezes from the Pacific, cooling grapes warmed by the hot sun and extending ripening. The hills reach up to 1,400 feet in elevation while the gravelly clay-loam soils infuse wines with a minerality that nearly every critic has remarked upon. 

Year after year, Sun Chase makes for some of Sonoma’s most opulent and decadently fruited Pinot Noirs, and 2022 was no different. This is a phenomenal Pinot that brings together site and vintage in a way you rarely see for this price. Don’t miss it.