Hayman & Hill Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir 2008
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
This portfolio of fine wines speaks to their passion of making wines for a label worthy of their respective surnames, Hayman & Hill. David Hayman enjoys seventeen years of strong international winemaking experience. He spent five years overseeing production across eleven Hardys wineries throughout Australia, and currently serves as Blackstone Winery’s Senior Vice President of Operations, overseeing all California winemaking operations. Dennis Hill has over twenty five years of winemaking experience with many leading Sonoma wineries. In 1994, Dennis joined the Blackstone Winery and for the past nine years, has delivered a wine profile that strikes a chord with consumers. Dennis is the Chief Winemaker for the Blackstone Winery and works in Sonoma County.
The Hayman & Hill Winemaker’s Collection was released in October, 2003. It is comprised of a selection of reserve wines from best known appellations with individual selection numbers.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Perhaps the most highly regarded appellation within Monterey County, Santa Lucia Highlands AVA benefits from a combination of warm morning sunshine and brisk afternoon breezes, allowing grapes to ripen slowly and fully. The result is concentrated, flavorful wines that retain their natural acidity. Wineries here do not shy away from innovation, and place a high priority on sustainable viticultural practices.
The climatic conditions here are perfectly suited to the production of ripe, rich Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. These Burgundian varieties dominate an overwhelming percentage of plantings, though growers have also found success with Syrah, Riesling and Pinot Gris.