94-Points by Wine Spectator.
Deep, dark plum and cherry aromas mingle with hints of vanilla and toasted cinnamon stick on the nose. The flavors echo the bouquet and mingle with flinty, cherry, raspberry and soy notes. The texture is round and generous, supported by a firm structure, wonderfully grippy tannins, and a delicious mouth-watering finish.
 
Our History
25 years of making Talisman!
Our first vintage was 1993; 203 cases of Carneros Pinot Noir were hand-crafted from three tons of Madonna Vineyard fruit. This wine was poured recently at a big dinner and is still very vibrant, flavorful and balanced!
We made just one wine from the Los Carneros AVA for the next 5 years, then in 1999 added a Russian River Pinot made from grapes grown on Klopp Ranch. In 2001 we added a third wine, this one from Thorn Ridge Vineyard on the Sonoma Coast.
Soon thereafter Steve MacRostie approached us to make wine from his Wildcat Mountain Vineyard; in his words: “I want one other winery to make a Wildcat Mountain Pinot, and I want it to be you, because your wines are fantastic, but I also know the value of having my vineyard name on your bottle so you’ll help market it for me.” And that we did. The story goes on – when we would come across another compelling vineyard, we’d add another Pinot noir. We now typically craft 16-18 wines from 12 diverse and unique vineyard sites, including several tiny lot, special bottlings of a single block, single clone, some made with 100% whole cluster and treaded by one of our staff, we call these wines “méthode ancienne” or Ancient Method. We’ve also added Rosé of Pinot Noir and a Pinot Blanc… How far we have come!
For the first fifteen years we sold our wine by mailing release letters and hosting customers in our home.  Scott was making Talisman wherever he was working as a winemaker. In 2007 we were fortunate to secure a space on 8th Street East in Sonoma where an industrial complex designed specifically for wineries was being built. We finally had our own winery!