2018 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir
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Tasting notes
Limpid ruby-red. Spice-tinged red fruits, incense and potpourri on the expansive nose, along with a building mineral overtone. Juicy and energetic on the palate, offering appealingly sweet raspberry and cherry preserve, rose pastille, vanilla and spicecake flavors that show fine definition and back-end cut. Powerful but graceful as well, finishing on a gently tannic note, with sharp clarity and strong persistence. This is a pretty impressive entry-level bottling of Pinot.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Josh Raynolds
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The 2018 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands comes from five vineyards: Rosella's, Garys', Sierra Mar, Soberanes and Pisoni. Aged in 44% new French oak for 10 months, it has a medium ruby-purple color and a nose of charcuterie and bright red berries with touches of dried citrus peel, amaro and tar. It’s medium-bodied, bright and lifted with loads of spicy character, a soft, grainy frame and long, vibrant finish. 1,250 cases produced.
Always a great value, the 2018 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands reveals a vibrant ruby hue as well as ripe cherry and strawberry fruit intermixed with notes of shiitake mushroom, dried herbs, and some meaty, earthy notes. It's a slightly more finesse-driven wine than some of the single vineyards and is beautifully balanced, has good acidity, and unquestionably plays in the same qualitative ballpark as all of these releases.