Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
From a site located in the southern part of the Santa Lucia Highlands consisting of broken granite soils, the 2017 Pinot Noir Lancelot Pisoni Vineyard was all destemmed and spent 15 months in 70% new French oak. Ripe raspberries, strawberries, rose petals, sappy herbs, and crushed rock-like minerality all emerge from the glass, and it hits the palate with medium to full body, bright, integrated acidity, building tannins, and a great, great finish. Despite seeming to be the most seamless and elegant texturally, it has a wealth of building tannins, good acidity, and a tight, powerful, lengthy style that begs for another year or two in bottle.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
"Sometimes I call it the beast," says Paul Lato of the 2017 Pinot Noir Lancelot Pisoni Vineyard, which comes from 36-year-old vines planted in granite and quartz and aged for 17 months in 60% new French oak. Pale to medium ruby, it has wonderfully evolving layers on the nose: from potpourri, dried bark, orange peel and amaro, to blueberry, raspberry, rhubarb, warm wild blackberries and strawberry preserves, to perfumed dusty earth, nutmeg, mineral hints and black tea leaves. It's medium to full-bodied and silky textured, slowly blossoming in the mouth to savory, broody, spice-laced dark fruits. It's framed by firm, finely grained tannins and great opposing freshness, finishing long, savory, textured and perfumed. So good!
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.