Winemaker Notes
This 2016 Pisoni Pinot Noir exhibits a beautiful, deep crimson robe. Intense aromas of dark red berries and black plums are accented by notes of spice. There are loads of mouth-filling flavors that mirror the aromas, ending on an amazingly long finish. This wine will age wonderfully in a proper cellar for many years to come.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
From a site in the warmer, southern portion of the Santa Lucia Highlands, the 2016 Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard offers a ripe bouquet of Bing cherries, raspberries, crushed flowers, and obvious minerality, which is a characteristic I almost always find in wines from this site. With medium body, a focused, tight texture, and beautiful balance, give bottles a year or two, and it should keep nicely through 2026.
Rating: 93+ -
Wine Enthusiast
Black cherry, black plum and violet aromas make for a deep, intense yet elegantly balanced nose on this bottling from the legendary vineyard. Candied cherry and boysenberry flavors show on the sip alongside black and purple sage, all wrapped in compelling tannic tension.
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.