Winemaker Notes
This high-elevation Pinot Noir from their dramatic estate vineyard offers an alluring bouquet of violet perfume, black cherry, plum, and a touch of sagebrush. The palate unfolds with vibrant black cherry, and clove, deepening into spiced fruit, vanilla, and violet pastilles. Hints of blueberry emerge on the back palate, leading to a smooth, long finish of spice and anise. Balanced acidity and textured tannings complement its floral and dark fruit character. While a huge undertaking to plant and farm this property, each sip is as stunning as the vineyard it hails from.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Beautiful aromatics of red and black berry fruits, sappy flowers, sassafras, and baking spices emerge from the 2023 Pinot Noir Sierra Mar Vineyard. Round and layered on the palate, this medium-bodied effort shows outstanding balance, sweet, velvety tannins, and impressive length. A very complete, complex, and satisfying wine from the Sierra Mar Vineyard, it should shine for a solid decade.
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James Suckling
A warm, broad, generous wine that's indulgent in ripe, lavish fruit flavors and has the structure to keep them in balance. Cinnamon, cedar, clove and star anise aromas, then a mix of bright raspberry and red and black cherries dominate the flavors. It's full-bodied and moderately tannic, showing a lot of good concentration. Drink now or hold.
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Vinous
Dark and brooding, the 2023 Pinot Noir Sierra Mar Vineyard is a massive wine. Black cherry, blackberry, menthol and underbrush introduce a Pinot Noir of somber intensity and serious complexity, but yet again, the bright 2023 acids make this feel very energized. Chewy tannins linger long on the potent, detailed finish. This will certainly need time to come around, but patience will be rewarded.
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Wine Spectator
This is enticing, with a mix of blood orange, raspberry and mulberry mixed in with singed mesquite, dried anise and red tea notes, all inlaid with lively, crunchy acidity. Its rambunctious edge should settle in soon enough, letting the flavors fan out a bit more. Best from 2026 through 2031.
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.