Lucia Vineyards Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir 2018
-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine
Spectator -
Connoisseurs'
Guide
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Stunningly pure in its infancy, the 2018 Lucia Pinot Noir barely contains its concentrated notes of raspberry, black cherry, and red currant but rather fills the air immediately as this wine splashes into the glass. Red berry flavors hidden within a shimmering ruby core give way to secondary notes of spiced plum, sage, and baking spice, adding extraordinary complexity to an already multi-dimensional wine. Hailing from three estate vineyards (41% Garys’, 32% Pisoni, and 27% Soberanes), this wine combines the best qualities of each site, staying true to the fog-laden slopes of the Santa Lucia Highlands from which it derives. Its concentration, complexity, and structure will stand the test of time.
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Moving to the Pinot Noirs, the appellation 2018 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands has a big, sexy, spicy style as well as medium to full body, a rounded, expansive mouthfeel, classic Pinot Noir underbrush, violets, Asian spices, integrated acidity, and a great finish. This is a year-in, year-out great value readers will love.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Dark boysenberry, hibiscus syrup and light licorice aromas lead into an acid-driven palate, where rich boysenberry and cherry flavors meet with toasted marjoram and cracked pepper. This is an affordable appellation blend that’s a great entry point to explore the winery.
-
Wine Spectator
Well-structured, with accents of savory, wet earth and forest floor flanking the deep well of dark fruit and Asian spice flavors. Hints of mocha show on the ripe, broad-textured finish. Drink now through 2025.
-
Connoisseurs' Guide
We have warned more than once that giving short shrift to Pinots labeled simply by appellation and assuming that single-vineyard renditions are necessarily superior can result in missing many amazingly good wines, and this one from Lucia more than proves the point. Not only is it a wonderfully well-made offering that deserves appreciative applause for its spot-on focus, its depth, its insistent richness and its exquisite balance, it earns an encore round, if not two, for its altogether exceptional value. There is nothing second-tier about it.
Other Vintages
2019-
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
-
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
Robert
Parker
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.