Winemaker Notes
Wines made from master-grower Steve McIntyre’s vineyard often exhibit the telltale
characteristics of Santa Lucia Highlands terroir. The 2022 McIntyre Vineyard Pinot Noir is no exception. Comprised of 100 percent 115 clone and made with 20 percent whole-cluster fermentation, it is dense and complex, with Bing cherry, cloves and a mineral element. Juicy berry flavors remain persistent, blending with more mineral and bright acidity in a structured finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Loamy, brooding and layered, this is long and unfolds with spice notes that bring impressive depth to black cherries, espresso and carob. Blood orange and chamomile tea remain through the sappy finish. Drink or hold, but will reward patience.
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Vinous
The 2022 Pinot Noir McIntyre Vineyard is so broad and energetic. There’s excellent delineation of cranberry, pomegranate, raspberry, clove and rose petal aromas and flavors, leading to broad swaths of attractively bitter, spicy tannin that grip the cheeks. Savory mineral density builds with time in the glass. This is a muscular wine that also displays focus and finesse in spades. The 2022 is all 115 clone, certainly contributing to its poise.
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.”
A geographic and climatic paradise for grape vines, Monterey is a part of the greater Central Coast AVA and contains within it five smaller sub-appellations, including Arroyo Seco, San Lucas, San Bernabe, Hames Valley and the famous Santa Lucia Highlands. The climate is relatively warm but tempered by cool, coastal winds, allowing the regions in Monterey County an exceptionally long growing season. Bud break often happens two weeks sooner and harvest tends to be two weeks later compared to other surrounding regions.
Monterey’s coastal side, where the cooling ocean fog allows grapes to develop a perfect sugar-acid balance, excels in the production of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Warmer, inland subzones are home to fleshy, concentrated and full-bodied reds like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Zinfandel.
Chardonnay, covering about 40% of vineyard acreage, is the most widely planted grape in all of Monterey County.