Winemaker Notes
With a brilliant garnet hue, the 2017 Luli Pinot Noir bursts from the glass with powerful aromatics of Bing cherry, strawberry cream, and baked plum. The morning fog and coastal breezes that pour into the Santa Lucia Highlands envelop the palate in the form of rose petal, blackberry crumble, red currant, and sage undertones. These rugged slopes stress the vines, producing fruit of exceptional complexity and structure, which reflect in the wine’s lively acidity and elegant tannin. This wine’s expansive, lingering finish allows for pairing with a wide variety of dishes.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby, the 2017 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands has a nose of spiced cranberry sauce and warm red berries and cherries with notes of forest floor, laurel and spicy notions. Light to medium-bodied, it's spicy in the mouth with concentrated red and black fruits, fine, grainy tannins and juicy freshness, finishing long and layered.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2017 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands is another incredibly high-quality release that competes with wines 3-4 times the price. Lots of strawberry, dried flowers, and subtle earthy notes all flow to a medium-bodied, beautifully textured Pinot Noir that has outstanding balance, ripe tannins, classic Pinot Noir characters, and a great finish. All destemmed and aged in neutral barrels, it’s the real deal. Drink it over the coming 2-4 years.
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.