Trail Marker Wine Co., Pinot Noir,

I'm sitting on the beach in Santa Cruz as I write this, watching the waves roll in under one of those perfect California afternoons that makes you wonder why anyone lives anywhere else. On a sunny day, this place is pure paradise. And while the beaches and redwoods get most of the attention, those of us who spend our lives tasting wine know another truth: Santa Cruz is home to some of the finest vineyards in the world. If you don't know that yet, you simply haven't been tasting the wines.

What many people don't realize until they spend time here is just how diverse Santa Cruz County really is. The county is blessed with nearly 30 miles of Pacific coastline. Crashing surf, dramatic bluffs, and cold ocean currents define the edge of the continent here. Yet drive fifteen minutes inland and you're suddenly among towering redwoods, steep mountain vineyards, and a completely different world. It's one of the reasons this region produces such distinctive wines.

The wine culture developing here today is equally exciting, driven by a new generation of growers and winemakers focused on authenticity rather than fashion. Few exemplify that movement better than Drew Huffine and Emily Virgil of Trail Marker. Since founding the winery in 2012, they've quietly built one of California's most respected small projects, earning placements on some of the country's most influential wine lists from New York City to San Francisco and far beyond. One taste and you'll immediately understand why. Their 2023 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir is a beautiful expression of what makes this place so special.

A few weeks ago, I pulled the cork on this bottle around a table filled with wine professionals at my home, and the bottle disappeared within minutes as everyone made sure they secured their few ounces of joy. Every person at the table assumed it cost at least twice what it does. We all looked at each other with the same reaction: "How is this only $35?" It was one of those bottles that immediately makes you start calculating how much room you have left in your cellar. For the price, this is an absolute no-brainer buy-by-the-case Pinot Noir (or three) and one that should drink beautifully over the next three to five years, if not longer. This is the kind of wine that makes friends wherever it goes—the perfect all-occasion bottle that seems to fit every palate at the table. Simply delicious, perfectly balanced, and impossible not to enjoy.

The Santa Cruz Mountains remain one of California's most distinctive winegrowing regions because nature does almost all the work. The Pacific Ocean sits just a few miles away, sending cold marine air through canyons and over ridgelines every afternoon. A vineyard just a mile or two farther inland can experience dramatically warmer temperatures, while another planted a few hundred feet higher in elevation may see completely different growing conditions altogether. Add in fractured sandstone, shale, ancient marine sediments, and uplifted seabeds that tell the story of millions of years of geological history, and you begin to understand why these mountains produce wines with such character.

The growing season here is long and measured, allowing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to develop flavor without sacrificing freshness. Every ridge, canyon, and slope seems to have its own personality. The region's modern wine history stretches back through pioneers like Mount Eden and Ridge, whose vineyards sit farther from the coast and high in the mountains. Today, however, there is a renewed energy flowing through the Santa Cruz Mountains, much of it driven by a new generation of growers and winemakers working sites closer to the Pacific. Small producers are farming remarkable vineyards, and thoughtful winemakers are embracing restraint, transparency, and site expression over power and excess. The result is one of the most exciting wine cultures in America and a collection of wines that increasingly rival far more expensive examples from around the world.

Trail Marker was founded by Drew Huffine and Emily Virgil with a simple but ambitious goal: to seek out exceptional cool-climate vineyard sites and allow those places to speak clearly through the finished wines. Drew's path included experience at some of California's most respected wineries, including Copain, DuMOL, Kosta Browne, and Tuck Beckstoffer, while Emily brought an equally deep passion for food, wine, farming, and hospitality. Their first vintage was produced from a single ton of fruit, but their reputation grew quickly among sommeliers and collectors who appreciated the precision and honesty of the wines.

Today, Trail Marker focuses on responsibly farmed coastal vineyards and traditional winemaking practices. Fermentations are conducted with native yeasts, new oak is used sparingly, alcohols remain refreshingly moderate, and intervention in the cellar is kept to a minimum. Their philosophy is not to shape wines into a predetermined style but rather to preserve the voice of the vineyard and vintage. It is a simple idea, but one that requires tremendous discipline. The result is a portfolio of wines that feel both distinctly Californian and remarkably timeless.

The 2023 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir captures everything I love about great coastal California Pinot Noir. The nose is immediately captivating, soaring from the glass with rose petals, wildflowers, crushed raspberries, red cherries, blood orange, and subtle hints of coastal sage and forest floor. There is a beautiful floral perfume here that keeps drawing you back to the glass.

On the palate, the wine is energetic and seamless, balancing bright red fruits with refreshing acidity and fine, polished tannins. There is a purity and elegance that feels almost effortless. The finish lingers with notes of cherry skin, dried flowers, spice, and the faint impression of ocean air.

Serve it just above cellar temperature in Burgundy stems. Pair it with grilled local halibut wrapped in bacon and olives, cedar-planked salmon, roast chicken with garden herbs, wild mushroom risotto, or a simple pork tenderloin cooked over charcoal. Or do what I would do—open it with friends on a warm evening and let the bottle tell its story.

This is simply beautiful California Pinot Noir: floral, perfumed, vibrant, balanced, and deeply satisfying. At $35, it is one of the finest Pinot Noir values I've tasted all year.