Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
A husky nose of cinnamon and pipe tobacco. Broad tannins, rich, bold fruit and a spicy heartiness ramp this baby up from zero to 60 by the second sip. Salted caramel apple and peppered strawberry keep it revved up, with an underlying frame of coffee and charred cedar. The liquid aged 15 months in French oak, goes into glide gear with a reverie of fruit and savory.
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Wine Enthusiast
As it opens, this wine's ever-so-slightly-dried black-cherry aroma emerges with elegance and power, alongside unending layers of potpourri, crushed flowers, juniper and dark spice. The palate leads with a tart cranberry note that broadens into a warmer strawberry flavor, laced together with tingling acidity and sagebrush spice.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Lucienne Pinot Noir Lone Oak Vineyard has a lovely red currant and cranberry-scented nose with touches of underbrush, cinnamon stick and roses. Medium-bodied, it fills the palate with expressive red berry preserves flavors, framed by soft tannins and just enough freshness, finishing with cinnamon and clove nuances.
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.