Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The pale to medium ruby colored 2017 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands gives up crushed black cherries, roasted cranberries and red berries with nuances of licorice, baking spices, forest floor and dried herbs. Medium-bodied and silky, that luscious fruit is well tempered with earthy accents in the mouth, with a soft, grainy, juicy frame and delicate finish. 1,635 cases produced.
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Wine Enthusiast
Light and slightly cloudy in the glass, this appellation blend offers aromas of red plum, caramel, soy sauce and Chinese five spice on the nose. The palate is loaded with bright strawberry and red cherry, with oaky hints of caramel throughout.
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Wine Spectator
Spicy, featuring finely textured dried raspberry and cherry tart flavors, accented by tea and cola notes. The minerally finish is focused and fresh-tasting, with some peppery hints. Drink now through 2022.
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.