Winemaker Notes
To celebrate J. Lohr's 40th anniversary, we offer a special bottling of 2013 Pinot Blanc. This wine, made in homage to our inaugural 1975 Pinot Blanc, shows vibrant yellow hues with aromas of peach, melon, honey and lemon blossom. Crisp acidity balances a creamy rich palate, with lingering flavors of apricot, citrus and melon.
Blend: 100% Pinot Blanc
For more than fifty years and through two generations, the Lohr family and their team have been leaders in the California wine industry. Founder Jerry Lohr and his three children Steve, Cynthia, and Lawrence oversee one of the country's most successful and trusted fine wine labels. With first plantings in Monterey in 1972 and then in Paso Robles in 1986, the team helped write the book on sustainable winegrowing on the Central Coast.
Today, J. Lohr farms more than 4,000 acres of estate vineyards in Monterey's Arroyo Seco and Santa Lucia Highlands appellations, Paso Robles, and St. Helena in the Napa Valley. They produce eight tiers of award-winning releases: J. Lohr Signature Cabernet Sauvignon, J. Lohr Cuvée Series, J. Lohr Vineyard Series, J. Lohr Gesture, J. Lohr Pure Paso Proprietary Red Wine, J. Lohr Estates, J. Lohr Monterey Roots, and ARIEL Vineyards.
J. Lohr is a Certified California Sustainable Vineyard and Winery and was honored with the 2020 Green Medal Leader Award in recognition of the company's decades-long commitment to sustainability.
Approachable, aromatic and pleasantly plush on the palate, Pinot Blanc is a white grape variety most associated with the Alsace region of France. Although its heritage is Burgundian, today it is rarely found there and instead thrives throughout central Europe, namely Germany and Austria, where it is known as Weissburgunder and Alto Adige where it is called Pinot Bianco. Interestingly, Pinot Blanc was born out of a mutation of the pink-skinned Pinot Gris. Somm Secret—Chardonnay fans looking to try something new would benefit from giving Pinot Blanc a try.
Named after the dramatic, seasonal river of rain and snowmelt that cuts through the upper elevations of the Santa Lucia Mountains, the Arroyo Seco AVA extends east from the resultant mountain gorge, and into the rural and warm Salinas Valley. During the growing season, cool and damp Pacific Ocean air penetrates the gorge and flows into the valley, creating a cool evening respite for vineyards after a hot summer day. This natural water-release has also created a subterranean aquifer, which helps set the foundation of the AVA's boundaries and supplies the vineyards with water.
Arroyo Seco was actually home to the first commercial vineyard in California, called Mission Ranch, which was owned and propogated by the Mirassou family in the 1960s.
Chardonnay is most widely grown here. But as one of Monterey’s warmer regions, Arroyo Seco enjoys the highest praise for its reds, namely Bordeaux blends.
Arroyo Seco is one of the oldest AVAs in California, its status granted in the early 1980s, and also remains one of its smallest.