2022 Folk Machine Pinot Noir Meeting of the Minds Vecino Vineyard Potter Valley 750 ml

Potter Valley is a far-flung Eden for cool-climate Pinot Noir. Here, cell phones often fail, and farms outnumber traffic lights. Wildlife rules the soundscape while surrounding mountains trap blankets of cool air over the vineyards. This is where winemaker Kenny Likitprakong has tapped the certified organic Vecino Vineyard to create a Pinot with lively energy and aromatic vibrancy. 

The Potter Valley AVA sits 200 feet higher in elevation than its neighbors, so while daytime warmth evokes bold fruit in the wine, overnight temperatures plummet, keeping it light on its feet. The soils are largely bedrock topped with the kind of alluvial soils that winegrowers covet. And according to Luke Miller, who has farmed Vecino since 2003, the Folk Machine Pinot “speaks to this place better than any wine made from here.” 

That terroir manifests as cherry, kola nut, and vanilla aromas in the 2022 Meeting of the Minds, with dynamic tension and soft tannins on the palate. You can practically feel the fading warmth of a rose-gold sunset giving way to the cool breezes of a highlands dusk. 

Likitprakong started Hobo Wine Company in 2002 to make minimal-intervention wines from organically farmed vineyards. The Folk Machine label is his home for esoteric and small-production bottlings—and among them, the Vecino Pinot Noir is among the most in-demand. He’s been making it since 2007, changing name and label every year. 

He fermented Meeting of the Minds with native yeasts and 70% whole clusters, which contribute tannin and structure, then cellared it in neutral oak to preserve fruit purity. Bright, dynamic, and joyful, it’s a beautiful cool-climate Pinot Noir from an AVA more wine lovers need to know.