Winemaker Notes
The 2023 Twelve Clones has the power, balance, and finesse typical of SLH pinot noir. Notes of cherry cola, dried herbs, and baking spices are joined by mild tannins and good acidity. Wonderfully balanced with a long finish, it aims to please any pinot noir lover. Food accompaniments include lamb chops and BBQ chicken.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Pure, layered, expressive and complex, this brings together star anise, bergamot, peppercorn, red and dark cherry, tilled earth and tea notes. Terrific value.
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Tasting Panel
Over 12 clones were chosen for this savory yet lighthearted Pinot Noir aged nine months in French oak. Wild strawberry, Luxardo cherry, and cola merge with prized flavors of sweet tobacco and red licorice in conjunction with searing acidity. Notes of Italian herbs accelerate on the midpalate, finishing with dark plum plus exotic spices and flowers.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2023 Pinot Noir Twelve Clones is a wine of finesse and understated power, 65% of the grapes coming from the estate Double L Vineyard, with the rest filled out by fruit from KW, Highlands, Boekenoogen, and Tondre, a mix of 12 unique clones. Medium-bodied, it offers flavors of cherry, cola, and clove, with a thread of acidity throughout. The oak is integrated and subtle, only 38% of it new, allowing the silky texture to speak.
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Wine Spectator
Delivers fresh, pinpoint notes of rooibos tea, blood orange and savory backed by the long, sleek finish. Drink now through 2030. 7,584 cases made.
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Vinous
The 2023 Pinot Noir Twelve Clones, is notably light and translucent in the glass, especially for the Santa Lucia Highlands. It’s a fairly quiet, restrained wine, but it delivers a nice concentration of sweet red berry fruit, rose petal, cinnamon and blood orange zest. Elegant and nicely rendered.
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.