Drum Canyon Vineyard C'est la Vie Pinot Noir
⏳ Drinking Window
Typically best enjoyed 3–10 years from the vintage release.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Roasted duck breast, wild mushroom risotto, pan-seared salmon
✨ Technical Specifications
Hailing from the steep, wind-swept slopes of the Drum Canyon Vineyard in the cool-climate Sta. Rita Hills, Paul Lato's 'C'est la Vie' Pinot Noir is a masterclass in tension and elegance. The vineyard's dramatic topography and diatomaceous soils, combined with relentless maritime winds from the nearby Pacific Ocean, naturally limit yields and force the vines to struggle. This extreme environment produces small, concentrated berries with thick skins. Named 'C'est la Vie' as a nod to the winemaker's philosophical acceptance of life's beautiful unpredictability, this cuvée is crafted with minimal intervention. It undergoes traditional fermentation and is aged in select French oak barrels, resulting in a Pinot Noir that beautifully balances intense dark berry fruit, exotic spices, and a vibrant, saline-tinged minerality characteristic of its coastal origin.
🍾 About the Producer
Founded in 2002 by Polish-born former sommelier Paul Lato, Paul Lato Wines is an acclaimed boutique winery based in Santa Barbara County, California. Guided by an artisanal, hands-off winemaking philosophy that prioritizes terroir transparency and balance, Lato works with some of the Central Coast's most prestigious cool-climate vineyards, including Bien Nacido, Solomon Hills, and Larner. The winery has achieved international critical acclaim for its intensely aromatic, textured, and nuanced small-lot Pinot Noir, Syrah, Grenache, and Chardonnay, which are celebrated for their pure fruit expression, structural precision, and distinctive poetic cuvée designations.
🍇 Grape Varieties
Pinot Noir
🍷 Alcohol By Volume (ABV)
14.1-14.5%