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Rivers-Marie, Summa Vineyard Old Vines Pinot Noir 2009
RedUnited States2009
By Daniel Min · Tasted 2020-02-17 · Published 2026-09-21 · Updated 2026-09-21
At a glance
No critic scores are listed on Vivino. As a small-production, mailing-list-only wine, it draws comparatively few major-publication reviews.
Market note: US$99 per 750ml ex-tax (Wine-Searcher, Sept 2026)
What this wine is
Thomas Rivers Brown moved to Napa from Sumter, South Carolina in 1996, working his way through All Seasons and Turley Wine Cellars before launching a consulting career in 2000. Clients like Schrader Cellars and Tor followed, and within a decade he'd earned a perfect score from Robert Parker — a pair of 2007 Cabernets from Schrader's To Kalon fruit, released in 2010, each hit 100 points — and today Schrader's own materials credit him with "35 100-point Cabernets." Overseeing roughly 45 clients and 150 different wines across Napa and Sonoma, he started his own label in 2002: Rivers-Marie.
Co-owner Genevieve Marie Welsh grew up on the very land Rivers-Marie now occupies — her family ran Forni-Brown-Welsh Gardens, an organic farm, on that site, and the two met working there. The house name Rivers-Marie combines Thomas's middle name, Rivers, with Genevieve's, Marie. Production stays small — 3,000 to 5,000 cases a year, with individual bottlings often running just a few hundred — and until a Calistoga tasting room opened in August 2020, nearly everything moved through the mailing list.
The fruit for this wine comes from Summa Vineyard, on a ridge near Occidental on the Sonoma Coast. Steve Young planted the first two acres there in 1979 (originally Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Gewürztraminer, with the latter two soon grafted over to Pinot Noir); Scott and Joan Zellar bought the vineyard in 1982 and farmed it until Thomas Rivers Brown acquired it in September 2010. Burt Williams, who made the Summa bottling from 1988 to 1997, reportedly suspects the original vines trace to a Swan selection, though that's not confirmed. Which means the 2009 vintage I drank was harvested while the vineyard still belonged to the Zellars, before Rivers Brown ever owned it.
What the world says
On Vivino, this 2009 vintage carries only 8 ratings — too few to register an average (status: BelowThreshold) — 2 at three stars, 5 at four, 1 at five: a small sample, but a consistent one. Across all vintages (222 ratings), it averages 4.4, ranking 1,168,048th among 1.34 million American wines on the platform, but 306th out of 360 Rivers-Marie wines — interestingly, on the lower end within the house's own range.
The flavor profile is dominated by red fruit — raspberry above all — at 31 mentions, followed by an earth group led by forest floor and earthy notes at 20. Oak notes are sparse, just 6 mentions, suggesting a restrained hand with new oak. Structurally, acidity sits at 3.6 and tannin at 2.3 — a moderate frame.
"Coravin. Deep hazy garnet color, with modest rim fade. Pomegranate, dark raspberry, violet, ginger, black tea, and subtle raisin. Smooth, dry palate. Firm, full tannins on the long finish. I cannot believe how well this has aged." — Vivino review, Jul 2023, 4.5 stars
"#NYWE2023 Saturday morning seminars. Fourth and last wine was from Rivers-Marie, presented by Thomas Rivers Brown, co-owner of the winery with Genevieve Marie Welsh." — Vivino review, Feb 2024, 4.5 stars
The wine appears in at least two New York Wine Experience seminar recaps as a reference point for California Pinot Noir — a sign of how the industry itself treats it — though no published critic score is on file.
How I drank it
17 February 2020, 3.5 stars. I noted raspberry, cranberry, cherry, cola and pomegranate, calling it "an unusual acidity and aroma, like a composite of berry and cherry." But the real substance of this note is in the sentence right after: "drank alongside the '03 Gevrey-Chambertin. But the longer it went, everyone's points kept drifting back to the Gevrey-Chambertin."
That '03 Gevrey-Chambertin was Domaine Denis Bachelet's bottle — a wine I'd already scored 4.0 a week earlier, on 10 February. This was a rematch: Burgundy against California, a table with an Old World and a New World Pinot Noir side by side. This Summa Vineyard's unusual acidity and aromatics probably grabbed attention first. But as the note records, the table's affection drifted back to the '03 Gevrey-Chambertin as the evening wore on. Burgundy versus California is a storyline the wine world keeps returning to ever since the 1976 Judgment of Paris, and this evening, in its own small way, replayed that framing — except this time, California didn't win. Rivers-Marie closed at 3.5, the '03 Gevrey-Chambertin at 4.0.
Vivino community data
2009 vintage rating distribution (8 ratings, average 0)
| 5★ | 1 (12%) | |
| 4★ | 5 (62%) | |
| 3★ | 2 (25%) | |
| 2★ | 0 (0%) | |
| 1★ | 0 (0%) |
Most-mentioned aromas
| Family | Mentions | Top keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Red fruit | 31 | raspberry 14 · sour cherry 5 · cherry 2 · cranberry 2 · red currant 2 |
| Earth | 20 | forest floor 6 · earthy 5 · minerals 3 · smoke 3 · cocoa 1 |
| Oak | 6 | cedar 2 · cola 2 · clove 1 · oak 1 |
| Spice | 5 | eucalyptus 1 · licorice 1 · mint 1 · rosemary 1 · savory 1 |
| Black fruit | 5 | jam 2 · black raspberry 1 · blackberry 1 · blueberry 1 |
| Stone fruit & apple | 2 | apple 2 |
| Citrus | 2 | citrus 1 · orange rind 1 |
Structure: Acidity 3.6/5 · Intensity 3.1/5 · Sweetness 1.6/5 · Tannin 2.3/5
Average by vintage (all vintages: 222 ratings, average 4.4)
| Vintage | Average | Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 4.4 | 41 |
My original note (Vivino, 2020-02-17)
“raspberry cranberry cherry cola pomegranate 03 지브리 샹베르탱과 같이 먹음. 베리 체리의 종합체 같이 특이한 산미와 향. 하지만 시간이 지날 수록 다들 지브리 샹베르탱에게 점수가 돌아감~~^^”
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→Frequently asked questions
What kind of wine is Rivers-Marie Summa Vineyard Old Vines Pinot Noir 2009?
A 100% Pinot Noir from Summa Vineyard near Occidental on California's Sonoma Coast. It's a mailing-list wine from Rivers-Marie, founded in 2002 by consulting winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown, known for a run of Napa's cult Cabernets, and his wife Genevieve Marie Welsh. Vivino: only 8 ratings for this vintage, too few for an average; 222 ratings across all vintages average 4.4.
How much does it cost?
World average price pending (US$99 per 750ml ex-tax (Wine-Searcher, Sept 2026)) — Wine-Searcher access was blocked during this research.
What food pairs well with it?
Vivino users suggest veal, pork, poultry and mushrooms. With tannin at a moderate 2.3, it works comfortably across a range of dishes.
What is Summa Vineyard?
A ridge-top vineyard near Occidental on the Sonoma Coast, first planted by Steve Young in 1979. Scott and Joan Zellar bought and farmed it from 1982 until Thomas Rivers Brown acquired it in 2010. This 2009 vintage was harvested before Rivers Brown owned it, while it still belonged to the Zellars.
Links & sources
View on Vivino · Prices on Wine-Searcher
- Vivino — wine page and community data
- Napa Wine Project — Rivers-Marie Wines
- Wine Spectator — The Midas Touch of Thomas Rivers Brown
- Schrader Cellars — Thomas Rivers Brown
- The PinotFile (Prince of Pinot) — Summa Vineyard: A California Legacy Vineyard Continues to Please
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Caymus Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
United States · Napa★★★★☆Similar styleRidge Vineyards, Lytton Springs 2016
United States · Sonoma★★★★½Same grapeCharles Clément, Brut Rosé (NV)
France · Champagne★★★★☆Same grapeDomaine Denis Bachelet, Gevrey-Chambertin 2003
France · Burgundy★★★★☆Same grapeArnaud Mortet, Gevrey-Chambertin 2017
France · Burgundy★★★★☆Same grape