Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
The nose on this bottling from the iconic vineyard co-owned by the Pisoni and Franscioni families is quite sultry, with lots of violet and purple-flower aromas as well as mulberry, black raspberry, forest floor and grilled meat. The earthy fruit flavors of mulberry are strong on the sip, playing well with the loamy soils, dusty minerality, stiffer tannins and persistent acidity. A deep and layered wine.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard has a very earthy nose, offering up notions of moss-covered bark and damp soil over a core of red and black cherries, with hints of wild thyme and cloves. Medium-bodied, with a solid backbone of grainy tannins and racy acid, the taut fruit reveals loads of earthy layers and a peppery note on the finish.
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Wine Spectator
Deep, rich and loamy, offering earth-scented blackberry, plum and licorice notes, with ripe tannins that give the flavors traction and dimension.
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.