Winemaker Notes
The robe of this 2015 Pisoni is a beautiful, deep crimson-red. On the nose the 2015 Pisoni exudes classic notes of ripe, red fruits accented by hints of tasty oak spice. The palate is very intense and full-bodies with delicious flavors of black plum and ripe boysenberry. As always with Pisoni Pinot, this wine is built to age or can be enjoyed in its youth.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
My favorite in the lineup, the 2015 Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard leads with its fruit and offers a terrific bouquet of red currants, mulberries, dried earth, incense, and spice. It's a big, rich Pinot Noir, yet stays lively and balanced on the palate, with sweet tannin and a big finish. It's a gorgeous Pinot Noir and a standout in the vintage.
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Wine Enthusiast
This bottling from the famously rich wine-making vineyard shows incredible restraint on the nose, starting with the reserved aromas of lavender, white pepper, bergamot, pomegranate and snappy raspberry. The blackberry fruit runs quite deep on the sip, edged by bay leaf, menthol and purple flower touches. Simultaneously elegant and powerful.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard gives notes of red currants, cranberry sauce and cherry juice with hints of rhubarb, underbrush and cinnamon stick. The medium to full-bodied palate features generous red berry and spicy flavors with a plush frame of velvety tannins and just enough freshness, finishing with good persistence.
Rating: 92+ -
Wine Spectator
Rich and full-bodied, with a solid core of blackberry, licorice, oak and light earthy notes that lend an added dimension. Ends long and clean. Drink now through 2023.
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.