The SOMM Journal

October / November 2015

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{ SOMMjournal.com }  67 Pessagno 2013 Reserve Chardonnay – An essence of the nervy yet elegant regional style, cobbling green apple, pear, cream, tightly spindling acidity and the cit - rus/minerally feel flowing through a sleek, compact medium-full body. Percheron-McFarland 2011 J. McFarland Tribute Pinot Noir – From one of SLH's heritage vineyards, planted in the mid-1970s by SLH pioneer the late Jerry McFarland; a lighter, beautifully focused, high toned, fragrant varietal ren - dering (12% alcohol, from grapes picked at 23° Brix); taut and lively with intrinsic acid- ity, finishing with a discreet slap of cherry/ strawberry jam. In an attempt to summarize the impact of terroir on Santa Lucia Highlands wines, Peter Palmer of San Francisco's Waterbar tells us, "Overall I found a lifted character and seam - less texture in wines across the board, with exotic rose petal—maybe more like decay- ing rose petal—in the Pinot Noirs." Mary Thompson noted: "Oftentimes regions compare their wines to benchmarks, like California Cabernet Sauvignon being similar to Bordeaux, or saying Willamette Pinot Noir is very Burgundian. Not once on this trip did I hear any winemakers com - pare their wines to European standards." Aaron Benson agrees; telling us: "I came with almost no preconceptions, and the ones I had turned out to be wrong anyway. The Pinot Noirs were not raisiny or flabby, nor like laser-sharp Spätburgunder wan - nabes—it was completely refreshing that no one claimed to be making 'Burgundy.'" Anthony Lerner of Mastro's Steakhouse Beverly Hills was struck by the macro- terroir focused approach of SLH vintners; saying, "Winemakers here put so much emphasis on individual vineyard sites—on highlighting each site's unique qualities— that it's almost as if they treat each vineyard as an AVA in itself, although Gary Franscioni made it very clear that few of them have any intention of proposing a sub-dividing of the AVA, in any way." Above all, says Robin Puricelli, "The thing that resonates about Santa Lucia Highlands is that this is a community of farmers-turned- winegrowers, most with long family histories in the area." Naureen Zaim frames it this way: "These winegrowers share a strong fellow - ship—buying, selling and making wine from each other's grapes is a norm, and handshakes are like contracts that seal the deal. It's easy to like these folks—they are honest, forthright, unpretentious and true . . . and you find the same character in their wines." Gary Pisoni (in his signature Hawaiian shirt) and Mark Pisoni with SOMM Campers at Pisoni Estate. Participating Santa Lucia Highlands Grower-Producers Estancia Winery (estanciawines.com) Hahn Family Wines (hahnwines.com) J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines (jlohr.com) Mansfield-Dunne Wines (mansfield-dunne.com) Manzoni Vineyards (manzoniwines.com) McIntyre Vineyards (mcintyrevineyards.com) Morgan Winery (morganwinery.com) Pecheron-McFarland (pecheron-mcfarland.com) Pessagno Winery (pessagnowines.com) Pisoni Estate & Lucia Vineyards (pisonivineyards.com; luciavineyards.com) Puma Road (pumaroad.com) ROAR Wines (roarwines.com) Tondre Wines (tondrewines.com) Participating Santa Lucia Highlands Associate Label-Producers August West Wine (augustwestwine.com) Bernardus Winery (bernardus.com) Black Kite Cellars (blackkitecellars.com) Joyce Vineyards (joycevineyards.com) Kosta Browne Winery (kostabrowne.com) La Rochelle (lrwine.com) Loring Wine Co. (loringwinecompany.com) Luli (luliwines.com) Miner Family Winery (minerwines.com) Miura Vineyards (miuravineyards.com) Mooney Family Wines (mooneyfamilywines.com) Prim Family (primfamilyvineyard.com) Testarossa Winery (testarossa.com) Tudor Wines (tudorwines.com) Siduri Wines (siduri.com) Wrath Wines (wrathwines.com)

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