By Jasmine Hirsch, December 2025
Dear Friends,
Tasting old wines can be a deeply evocative experience. A great bottle is like a time capsule, transporting us back to a particular moment: the weather of the vintage, a story from harvest, or the personality of the winemaker.
About a month ago, we held our now-annual library tasting at Hirsch, focusing on a vertical of the East Ridge and West Ridge Pinots, along with several vintages of our Estate Chardonnay plus the San Andreas and Bohan-Dillon Pinot Noirs.
Tasting the East Ridge and West Ridge Pinot Noirs across seven vintages was especially illuminating. We first bottled these wines in 2009, which is only a short time ago in the long arc of terroir. My father and I believed these wines were distinct and authentic expressions of site, worthy of being bottled on their own. We believed terroir existed in those sites, and we believed it would persist over time – not only from vintage to vintage, but also as the wines aged in bottle.
But belief is not the same as knowledge. So to taste these wines side by side, and to experience the through line of terroir across seven vintages, was deeply rewarding and affirming.
The texture and flow of West Ridge – silky, sappy, seamless – came through again and again. In the best vintages, these qualities reach their peak expression. Meanwhile, every vintage of East Ridge showed the savory aromatics that are characteristic of this wine. While tannin levels varied depending on the vintage, all shared a mineral, structured edge, speaking to this site’s extreme mountain nature.
There are many treasures to explore in this release. I hope you will enjoy these aged beauties, a look back across time and place.
Warmly,
Jasmine Hirsch
GM & Winemaker