Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Moving to the Pinot Noirs, there are three releases, all from the Santa Lucia Highlands. The appellation 2018 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands offers a medium ruby, almost opaque hue as well as a spicy, smoky bouquet of spiced strawberries, darker currants, underbrush, and brambly herbs. This carries to a medium-bodied, supple, beautifully textured, even seamless Pinot Noir that punches way above its humble price point. Enjoy bottles over the coming couple of 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.