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64 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2015 STONEWALL VINEYARD. Our second full day began at 8:30 a.m. in Stonewall Vineyard, located towards the north end of the appellation, and owned and managed by Constellation Brands since 1999. Former owner Agustin Huneeus originally pur - chased the property in 1988, three years before Santa Lucia Highlands became an AVA, and its 85 acres of planted Pinot Noir have been the basis of Estancia Winery's reserve program since 1995. Constellation Vineyard Manager Jeff Pomo teamed up with Lars Pierce, a research scientist at Cal State University Monterey Bay, to demonstrate tools such as pressure Baum readers and satellite imagery to monitor soil moisture and vine vigor, and to help plan irrigation, canopy management and thinning to maximize quality of fruit and, ultimately, wine balance. Morel called this "one of the highlights of the trip," while Thompson found this to be indicative of the region's "fearless approach to innovation and experimentation." While tasting our group on the full- bodied yet zesty, velvety, flowery Estancia 2013 Stonewall Vineyard Pinot Noir, Constellation Brands Senior Winemaker Scot Dahlstrom pointed out: "Our objec - tive is to produce an SLH-style Pinot Noir, not a Burgundy. We admit that it can be big, usually over 14% alcohol, but a consistent balance of fruit intensity and acidity is one of the hallmarks of the region." APEX VINEYARD. Our next stop was at the top of Apex Vineyard, a recently estab - lished vineyard located on higher benchland (2,000-plus feet) in the center of the AVA, just south of John Peterson's Big Bench Vineyard. Apex is owned and farmed by Ray Franscioni, a cousin of Gary Franscioni, who produces wine from another one of his high-elevation properties (Vigna Monte Nero) under his own Puma Road label. Last fall Franscioni also acquired Pessagno Winery, a seminal SLH brand previously owned by the late, great Steve Pessagno. Ray Franscioni explained: "The Franscioni family arrived in Salinas Valley in 1886, star ting as dairy farmers, growing hay, ranching, row cropping and finally wine grapes, beginning in the 1960s. Like some of the other pioneers, in the beginning we planted the wrong grapes—Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, which we could never really get to fully ripen here. Once Pinot Noir and Chardonnay emerged as the way to go in the early '90s, we were able to expand. We have 175 planted acres in Vigna Monte Nero, and combined with Apex, extensive plantings elsewhere in Monterey as well as in Paicines, we're now up to about 2,400 acres." "Corporate dynamics," Franscioni warned, "can change a region like SLH—you can lose that personal touch. We're still a family operation, even though we're getting big. With development and infrastructure, it can cost $25,000 an acre to plant a new vineyard in a region like this. My neighbor, John Peterson, has probably invested $5 million on his property next door, and that's years before seeing one grape." Following his sobering discourse on the economics of Santa Lucia Highlands viti - culture, Franscioni tasted us on his wines, all marked by power noses and sharply defined acidity typical of the appellation: notably, a lemony crisp, flinty, moderately weighted Puma Road 2013 Pinot Gris; a pungent, citrusy, sleek Puma Road 2012 Chardonnay with an intriguing note of leafy herbs; a silky, lively, pinpoint and perfumey Puma Road 2012 Pinot Noir; and an even more floral and edgy Puma Road 2012 Apex Vineyard Pinot Noir, distinguished by savory touches of sagebrush mixed with tomato/pyrazine leafiness. HAHN FAMILY WINES. From Apex Vineyard we traveled into the south end of Santa Lucia Highlands to the Hahn Family Wines estate, where General Manager Tony Baldini, Winemaker Paul Clifton and Director of Viticulture Andy Mitchell wel - Day 2 Science, Economics & Wine Country Shangri-La Constellation Vineyard Manager Jeff Pomo demonstrates the pressure Baum reader in Estancia's Stonewall Vineyard. Scot Dahlstrom, Constellation Brands Senior Winemaker in Estancia's Stonewall Vineyard, Constellation Brands Senior Winemaker, in Estancia's Stonewall Vineyard At Apex Vineyard, bottles of Puma Road on a map of the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA.