{ 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
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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
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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
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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
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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)