Winemaker Notes
The 2019 Luli Monte Linda Vineyard Pinot Noir is brimming with notes of ripe plum, cherry liqueur, baking spice and fresh sage. Gentle extraction of color and structure through native fermentation and twice daily punchdowns has packed this medium ruby wine with concentrated flavors of juicy red cherry, Mission fig, and berry crisp, while savory notes of clove and spiced tea leaves create additional depth on the palate. This truly layered experience finishes with refreshing acidity and soft, elegant tannin that cannot be ignore
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Pinot Noir Monte Linda offers more ripe black cherry, tobacco, and darker herb-like notes as well as a rich, concentrated, yet focused style on the palate. Coming from the southern part of the Santa Lucia Highlands, it has good fruit, plenty of richness, present tannins, a great finish. It has another 4-6 years of prime drinking ahead of it, although there's no need to hold off.
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.