Wine Enthusiast Magazine - May 2022
Score: 93
Phillips Hill 2019 Oppenlander Vineyard Pinot Noir (Mendocino)
Score: 94
Phillips Hill 2019 L'Air De Mer Pinot Noir (Anderson Valley)
Score: 95
Phillips Hill 2019 Morning Dew Vineyard Pinot Noir (Anderson Valley)
Wine Enthusiast Magazine - April 2021
Score: 95
Phillips Hill 2018 Roma's Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Great balance, pure fruit flavors and a brilliant mouthfeel make this elegant wine a real stand-out. Tangy acidity and fine-grained tannins support vivid red-cherry, cranberry and cinnamon flavors, making it a great choice for those who like their oak in moderation. Best through at least 2027. Jim Gordon
Score: 94
Phillips Hill 2018 Day Ranch Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Score: 94
Phillips Hill 2018 Oppenlander Vineyard Mendocino Pinot Noir
Score: 91
Phillips Hill 2018 L'Air de Mer Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Allen Meadows' Burghound - 2021
Score: 90
Phillips Hill 2018 Oppenlander Vineyard Mendocino Pinot Noir
A perfumed, cool and extremely pretty nose of violets rose petal and lavender adds breadth to the mostly red berry fruit scents. There is very good verve to the utterly delicious middle weight flavors that possess a caressing texture, all wrapped in a well-detailed, youthfully austere and slightly dusty finale. The one thing this very pretty effort lacks is superior depth so I would suggest allowing it 4 to 6 years of bottle age. 90/2025+
Wine Enthusiast Magazine - May 2020
Score: 95
Phillips Hill 2017 Day Ranch Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
An enticing, gripping, chalk and mineral vein adds verve and complexity to this quietly concentrated wine. It is medium to full in feel, layered with fine-grained tannins and intricate nuances of cherry and raspberry, all supported by well-integrated oak spices and a subtle tannin structure that will help it age. Best through 2027. - JG
Score: 94
Phillips Hill 2017 Boontling Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Score: 94
Phillips Hill 2017 Roma's Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Score: 92
Phillips Hill 2017 Oppenlander Vineyard Mendocino Pinot Noir
Allen Meadows' Burghound - 2020
Score: 90
Phillips Hill 2017 Roma's Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
A slightly more deeply pitched nose is comprised by floral, spice and various red berries. There is better volume and mid-palate density to the delicious and caressing but precise middle weight flavors that also possess a sophisticated mouthfeel before culminating in a complex, dusty and equally well-focused finale. This slightly firmer and very pretty effort should benefit from a few years of cellaring.
Wine & Spirits Magazine - April 2020
Score: 90
Phillips Hill 2017 Oppenlander Vineyard Mendocino Pinot Noir
Year’s Best US Pinot Noirs
This wine grows in Comptche, north of the Anderson Valley, at a vineyard planted on its own roots in the late 1990s. The vines grow at an elevation of 600 feet, ten miles from the coast. The wine is tight, firm and juicy, all bunched up in sweet raspberry freshness. Simple and comforting, this is built for country pâté. Reviewed by Joshua Greene.
Internationational Wine Review - March 2020
Score: 92
Phillips Hill 2018 Day Ranch Anderson Valley Chardonnay
This is a delicious cool climate Chardonnayoffering aromas of orchard fruit and flowers. Fermented
and aged in stainless steel, it is ripe and lively on thepalate with rich flavors, good density of flavor and along finish.
Score: 92
Phillips Hill 2017 Roma's Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Wine Enthusiast Magazine - April 2019
Score: 93
Phillips Hill 2016 Valenti Vineyard Mendocino Ridge Pinot Noir
This wine from a tiny, mountainside vineyard is complex in aromas and flavors, medium bodied and well balanced. Black-cherry and rhubarb aromas are followed by moderately ripe cherry, bay leaf and rhubarb flavors and a lively structure of brisk acidity and firm tannins. - JG
Score: 93
Phillips Hill 2016 L'Air De Mer Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Score: 92
Phillips Hill 2016 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Score: 92
Phillips Hill 2017 Boontling Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Score: 91
Phillips Hill 2016 Roma's Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Wine Enthusiast Magazine - March 2018
Score: 95 Editors Choice
Phillips Hill 2015 Valenti Vineyard Mendocino Ridge Pinot Noir
Flavor complexity and a lot of finesse in the texture give just about everything a Pinot Noir can give. This wine, from a tiny, high elevation vineyard, has enticing aromas of mint, clove, bay leaf and red cherry followed by vibrant flavors of red cherry and black tea ( that are satisfying but don;t overpower the firm texture), fine tannis and welcome acidity. - J.G.
Score: 94 Editors Choice
Phillips Hill 2015 Cerise Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Score: 93
Phillips Hill 2015 Oppenlander Vineyard Mendocino Pinot Noir
Score: 90
Phillips Hill 2015 Boontling Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Wine & Spirits Magazine - December 2017
Score: 91
Phillips Hill 2016 Anderson Valley Valley Foothills Vineyard Gewurztraminer
Score: 90
Phillips Hill 2016 Mendocino Ridge Greenwood Ridge Vineyard Riesling
Some of the vines that produce this wine date to 1972, the rest to 1988, all planted on loam derived from weathered sandstone in a mix with gravel. They yield a richly textured riesling, yeasty and broad, with plenty of acidity to add an edge. That mouthwatering acidity will match sole pan-roasted with grapes.
Wine Enthusiast Magazine - May 2017
Score: 94 Cellar Selection
Phillips Hill 2014 Valenti Vineyard Mendocino Ridge Pinot Noir
Score: 93 Cellar Selection
Phillips Hill 2014 Cerise Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Score: 92 Editors Choice
Phillips Hill 2014 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Score: 92
Phillips Hill 2014 Roma's Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Allen Meadows' Burghound - 2017
Score: 90
Phillips Hill 2014 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
A more elegant and notably more floral nose combines notes of equally pure red cherry, raspberry, sandalwood and soft spice wisps. The succulent, round and utterly delicious medium-bodied flavors possess a caressing, even seductive mid-palate mouth feel before culminating in a dusty, focused and solidly persistent finale. There is a hint of youthful asperity but there is a reasonably good chance that it will dissipate if this is allowed a few years of cellaring and my rating offers the benefit of the doubt in this regard.
Wine & Spirits Magazine - April 2017
Score: 93
Phillips Hill 2015 Boontling Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Score: 91
Phillips Hill 2014 Oppenlander Vineyard Mendocino Ridge Pinot Noir
Tasted blind, this felt like a coastal wine, not an inland Mendocino pinot noir. In fact, Oppenlander is just five miles outside of Anderson Valley; its own-rooted vines grow at 600 feet of elevation in Comptche’s Surprise Valley. This captures the neighborhood’s coastal cool in fruit that’s clean and red, with the airy sweetness of an heirloom strawberry. The wine’s spicy oak tannins are prominent, but a year of age should bring them into silky alignment.
Wine Enthusiast Magazine - April 2017
Phillips Hill 2014 Oppenlander Vineyard Mendocino Pinot Noir
Score: 91
Phillips Hill 2015 Boontling Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
While light-bodied, gentle and intricate, this wine offers plenty of flavor nuances. Cranberry and herb tea aromas mark the nose, while the mouthfeel is at once soothing and tangy, with mulled cherry and clove aromas that slowly emerge and persist on the finish. It's a treat to sip and savor. - J.G.
Allen Meadows' Burghound - Oct 2016
Score: 91
Phillips Hill 2013 Valenti Vineyard Mendocino Ridge Pinot Noir
Like all the wines in the range there is a lovely sense of vibrancy and delineation to the mid-palate of the middle weight flavors that possess good punch and lovely persistence on the balanced finale. This is almost a blend of the Oppenlander and Terroirs as there is focused power along with a certain refinement. Note that moderate patience will be required and overall this is worth checking out 91/2020 +
Score: 90
Phillips Hill 2013 Terroirs Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
International Pinot Noir Celebration - July 2016
McMinnville, Oregon
Wine Enthusiast Magazine - June 2016
Score: 94 Editors Choice
Phillips Hill 2013 Oppenlander Vineyard Mendocino Pinot Noir
An outstanding example of balance and reserve that doesn’t lack in flavor, this wine will pair well with a wide variety of foods. It has a mild color as well as spicy, woodsy aromas due to 35% whole-cluster fermentation. Satisfying flavors resemble a wine-reduction sauce but are dry and crisp. Editors’ Choice. —J.G.
Score: 94 Editors Choice
Phillips Hill 2013 Valenti Vineyard Mendocino Ridge Pinot Noir
Score: 93 Editors Choice
Phillips Hill 2013 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Score: 92
Phillips Hill 2013 Terroirs Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Wine Enthusiast Magazine - August 2015
Score: 94 Editors Choice
Phillips Hill 2012 Oppenlander Vineyard Mendocino Pinot Noir
Score: 92 Cellar Selection
Phillips Hill 2012 Cerise Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Score: 92 Editors Choice
Phillips Hill 2012 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Score: 91
Phillips Hill 2012 Boontling Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Score: 90
Phillips Hill 2012 Valenti Vineyard Mendocino Ridge Pinot Noir
Wine & Spirits Magazine - Dec 2014
A Sommelier Scavenger Hunt - Tracking Down American Terroir
The Sommeliers: Steven McDonald, Vanessa Trevino-Boyd, Christian Varas.
Phillips Hill 2011 Two Terroirs C + R Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
A wine they chose for its "high tones and sous bois notes," which drew a parallel for him to Burgundy. The wine shows both the vibrancy of the ocean-cooled site and the warmth of the valley in its ripe cherry flavors and vibrant acidity. "Using the best fruit off both vineyards, it's a regional premier cru," says Treviño-Boyd.
Allen Meadows' Burghound - Oct 2014
October 12, 2014
Score: 91
Phillips Hill 2011 Two Terroirs C + R Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
The delicious, intense and solidly well-concentrated middle weight flavors possess excellent depth and length. There is the same ever-so-slightly drying character to the finish here as with the Valenti there is even better depth and length. Again, while this is not a perfectly balanced wine I like it despite its mild imperfection primarily because of the excellent depth. 91/2019 +
Stephan Tanzer May/June 2014
Score: 90
Phillips Hill 2011 Two Terroirs C + R Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Score: 90
Phillips Hill 2012 Valenti Vineyard Mendocino Ridge Pinot Noir
Vivid red. A highly perfumed bouquet presents fresh red berries, rose and Asian spices, plus a stony topnote. Juicy and tightly focused on the palate, offering intense black raspberry and bitter cherry flavors that gain sweetness and depth with air. Shows impressive power on the spice-tinged, youthfully tannic finish, ending on notes of cola and floral pastilles. (JR)
Wine Enthusiast Magazine - 2013
Score: 91
Phillips Hill 2011 Two Terroirs C + R Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
From the Cerise and Ridley vineyards, this wine explores two sites within the Anderson Valley. In taste it offers intense sour cherry, a flavor that finds its balance mid-palate, blossoming into smooth, spicy, full-bodied, oak-kissed goodness. — V.B.
Stephan Tanzer May/June 2013
Score: 90
Phillips Hill 2010 Two Terroirs AV + MR Mendocino Pinot Noir
Score: 90
Phillips Hill 2010 Oppenlander Vineyard Mendocino Pinot Noir
Bright red. Fresh redcurrant and strawberry aromas give way to deeper cherry and black raspberry with air. Juicy and precise, offering tangy red fruit flavors and notes of anise and smoky herbs. Finishes on an energetic note, with very good focus, length and a touch of bitter cherry. (JR)
Wine Enthusiast Magazine - 2012
Score: 92
Phillips Hill 2010 Two Terroirs AV + MR Mendocino Pinot Noir
Phillips Hill's Two Terroirs is very subtly marked "AV + MR," signaling that the fruit was sourced from both the cool Anderson Valley and even cooler Mendocino Ridge. It's lightly earthy and resplendent in bright, just-ripe cherry tones. Gorgeously crisp, with undeniable structure, this is ready to drink, but it would also shine in a few years time. - V.B.
Sommelier Journal - Hot Picks High End Red - 2012
-by David Glancy, MS,CWE,CSS,FWS
Phillips Hill 2008 Beeson Tree Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Wine Enthusiast Magazine 2011
Score: 92
Phillips Hill 2009 Hinterlands Mendocino Pinot Noir
Score: 91
Phillips Hill 2009 Valenti Vineyard Mendocino Ridge Pinot Noir
Score: 91
Phillips Hill 2010 Ridley Vineyard Anderson Valley Chardonnay
Score: 90
Phillips Hill 2009 Wiley Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
"Made in a light-bodied style, with see-through color containing glints
of orange and ruby. Feels light and silky in the mouth, but don't
underestimate the complexity. This wine packs a punch in raspberry,
cherry, Dr Pepper cola, orange zest, tobacco, spice and sandalwood
flavors." - SH
San Francisco Chronicle - 2011
Anderson Valley Pinot Noir: The Chronicle Recommends
2009 Phillips Hill Valenti Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Artist-turned-vintner Toby Hill wandered up Philo-Greenwood Road to this remote, impressive site at the western edge of the appellation. Heady and bigger, with lots of roasted spice (mace, clove) and pine cone. Baked strawberry and fresh citrus pith for depth, with great flourish. - Jon Bonne
35th Annual Mendocino County Wine Competition - 2011
Best of Class Red
Phillips Hill 2009 Hinterlands Mendocino Pinot Noir
Sommelier Journal - Spring Release 2011
Phillips Hill 2009 Valenti Vineyard Mendocino Ridge Pinot Noir
- "Gorgeous" - Catherine Fallis, MS
Wine Enthusiast Magazine - 2010
Score: 92 Editors Choice
Phillips Hill 2008 Beeson Tree Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
"From a winery that's piling up an impressive record with Mendocino
Pinot Noir comes this crisp, silky wine. It's light in color and deceptively
light in body, in the way of some great Burgundies that age effortlessly,
even when you think they won't. Dry and pure, it has a sweet complex
wild cherry, raspberry,cola and smoky oak flavors. Fine now and could
really surprise in six years or more."- SH
Score: 91
Phillips Hill 2008 Oppenlander Vineyard Comptche Mendocino Pinot Noir
Steve Heimoff Wine Blog - Top 10 Wines of the Week - 2010
Phillips Hill 2008 Beeson Tree Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
"Anderson Valley Pinots are in many ways the most "Burgundian" of California, and this lightly colored, lightly-textured wine shows why. But there's nothing light about the spicy complexity."
Gary Vaynurchuk - Wine Library TV - 2010
Score: 93
Phillips Hill 2008 Ring Of Fire Anderson Valley Pinot Noir - Wine Library TV Episode #856
San Francisco Chronicle - 2009
Phillips Hill has art on the wall, in the glass
- Stacy Finz September 12 2009 Link
San Francisco Chronicle - 2009
Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
2007 Phillips Hill Corby Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Artist Toby Hill again finds a powerful Pinot expression, with bright red fruit highlights and a rich earthy tone giving it momentum. His 2007 Oppenlander ($42) is more brooding and meaty. -Jon Bonne
Wine Enthusiast Magazine - 2009
Score: 92
Phillips Hill 2007 Anderson Valley Corby Vineyard Pinot Noir
Score: 90
Phillips Hill 2007 Oppenlander Vineyard Mendocino Pinot Noir
Score: 90
Phillips Hill 2007 Toulouse Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Wine & Spirits Magazine - 2009
Score: 90
Phillips Hill 2007 Anderson Valley Corby Vineyard Pinot Noir
Wine Enthusiast Magazine - 2008
Score: 90
Phillips Hill 2006 Toulouse Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Gary Vaynerchuk - Wine Library TV - 2008
Score: 94
Phillips Hill 2005 Toulouse Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
"I am completely taken aback by the overall explosiveness, the richness, the depth, the old world love that's the cool climate of Anderson Valley, and the new world love. This has everything!"
- Gary Vaynerchuk
Link to Episode #418: Pinot Noir Showdown
San Francisco Chronicle - 2007
Phillips Hill 2005 Oppenlander Vineyard Mendocino Pinot Noir
"Nothing beats a bottle of showy but fabulously food-friendly Pinot Noir, especially if you're a frequent guest at your host's dining table. Finding a wine that has spectacular fruit and concentration, complexity, a bit of Burgundian earthiness, supple tannins and impeccable balance will seal your dinner invites for many moons to come. The 2005 Phillips Hill Oppenlander Vineyard Mendocino Pinot Noir is a good example of what California cool climate fruit can produce. The wines beautifully artistic label - for which winemaker Toby Hill designs anew each vintage - is a bonus.
- Jon Bonné, Lynne Char Bennett
Vinography Wine Blog
Overall Score: 9/9.5
Phillips Hill 2002 Oppenlander Vineyard Mendocino Pinot Noir
A mere 100 cases of this wine is extracted from 18 acres of prime Pinot Noir vineyard located at the mouth of the Anderson valley as it opens up to the Mendocino Coast. Known as the Oppenlander Vineyard, it is named after homesteaders with the name Oppenlander, who eked out a living on this property in the 1860's and were so isolated from the rest of the country that they and other residents at the time were able to continue growing wine grapes straight through the years of Prohibition.
Tasting Notes:
Medium to light ruby in color, this wine has a delicious nose of cranberry and lavender aromas with a hint of vanilla. On the palate it is lush and round with light flavors of raspberry and strawberry mixed with crushed fresh herbs. Nicely balanced with acidity the fruit is not overly extracted and lasts to a moderate finish. This is a delicate, feminine wine, and one of the better coastal Pinot Noirs I have had in some time.