The Contender Drum Canyon Vineyard Pinot Noir
⏳ Drinking Window
Typically best enjoyed 3–12 years from vintage release.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Roasted duck breast, wild mushroom risotto, herb-crusted rack of lamb
✨ Technical Specifications
Hailing from the steep, wind-swept slopes of the Drum Canyon Vineyard in the celebrated Sta. Rita Hills AVA, 'The Contender' is a masterclass in tension and power. Planted on challenging, diatomaceous soils and exposed to the relentless, cooling Pacific breezes, the vines here must fight to survive—a struggle that Paul Lato brilliantly honors with the wine's evocative name. This extreme terroir yields tiny, highly concentrated Pinot Noir berries. In the cellar, Lato employs a gentle, minimalist approach, aging the wine in select French oak barrels to preserve its vibrant core of dark fruit, exotic spices, and distinct mineral undertones. The result is a Pinot Noir of remarkable structure, energy, and cinematic depth that beautifully reflects its dramatic 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%