Winemaker Notes
This Pinot Noir exhibits aromas of dark cherry, raspberry, strawberry and spice. On the palate, it delivers generous black cherry, black raspberry and cranberry with notes of earth and black tea. Elegant, balanced, lush and focused. The mouthful is ample and plush gaining depth with a lingering velvety finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The 2022 Domaine Della Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir is an excellent wine with lasting depth on the palate. This wine excels with aromas and flavors of alluring sandalwood, tart blackberries, and rocks-in-the-desert. Invite your favorite wine buds and serve it with a garlic and rosemary-infused crown roast of lamb. (Tasted: October 12, 2024, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Enthusiast
Elegantly rich aromas of boysenberry, black plum, mace and star anise are polished on the nose of this bottling. The palate lands with a fresh blast of strawberry and raspberry as cinnamon and peppery spices elevate the experience.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands comes from the Soberanes Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands. It’s scented of cranberry, blackberry, tobacco leaves, earth and potpourri. The medium-bodied palate has a grainy texture and just enough fresh acidity. It offers restrained, earthy flavors with integrated oak character and a spicy finish.
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.