Lucia Vineyards Estate Cuvee Pinot Noir 2021
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker -
Connoisseurs'
Guide
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Entirely estate-farmed and sourced from these premier vineyard sites within the Santa Lucia Highlands, the 2021 Lucia Estate Cuvée of Pinot Noir offers up enticing aromas of strawberry compote, juicy cranberry, sandalwood, and black tea leaves, all contained within the embrace of its deep ruby hue. Carefully monitored fermentation temperatures and methodical extraction techniques have produced a wine of remarkable depth, concentration, and complexity. Layers of black cherry, Mission fig, spiced plum, and berry crumble provide a stepping stone for more subtle hints of fresh sage, clove, and vanilla bean to make their voices heard. A true snapshot of these wind-swept vines, this Pinot Noir finishes with vibrant acidity and a distinct, yet noticeably approachable structure.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This bottling is both lush and bright at once, starting with aromas of crisp cherry compote, fresh raspberry, mace and elegant French-toast spices. Sprightly energy dances across the palate, where juicy dark-red-fruit flavors are lifted by lavender, carnation and rose petal.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Looking at the three Pinot Noirs, the 2021 Pinot Noir Estate Cuvee is a larger production release (2256 cases) that brings terrific darker berry fruits, some spice, underbrush, black tea, and crushed stone nuances, medium body, ripe, building tannins, and a great finish. A serious wine, it benefits from air and will easily evolve for 5-7 years or more. It's a smoking value in impeccably made, high-quality Pinot Noir that will beat the pants off many a Premier Cru Burgundy.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Pinot Noir Estate Cuvée was matured for 10 months in 53% new French oak. It's bursting with aromas of cranberry, black cherry, potpourri, bergamot, fennel and earth. The medium-bodied palate is fresh and silky with a concentrated core of fruit and an ethereal, spicy finish.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
By Pisoni. A Pinot Noir sourced from the Soberanes, Pisoni and Gary's Vineyards, this generously fruited offering comes up big on sweet, well-ripened cherries. Slightly fleshy in feel and just shy of full-bodied, it has the structure to grow without in any way being at all tannic or tough. It is not a simple wine, but it is a very young one that we expect will show more expansion and the kind of complexity to earn even higher marks after having rested for a few years.
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.