Pisoni Estate Pinot Noir 2019
(Santa Lucia Highlands, California) - [JD 97] [VM 96] [WE 96]

About the Winery:
It all started with a dream about Pinot Noir. A true visionary in the Santa Lucia Highlands, Gary Pisoni has worked tirelessly since collecting and making his first wines in the 1970’s, planting Pisoni Vineyards in 1982, and the producing of the first Pisoni Estate Pinot Noir with his sons in 1998. As dreamers often do, Gary felt something on his family’s land that was seemingly not there and followed his intuition relentlessly to uncover it. Multiple costly drilling attempts failed before bringing water up from beneath the solid granite that makes up the hillsides, a feat so many believed to be impossible.

About the Estate Pinot Noir:

Vineyard:

• One of the highest-elevation vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands: 1,300 feet
• Decomposed granite soil. High amounts of schist and quartz
• Heavy fog influence
• 36 planted acres with 30 individually farmed blocks or sub-blocks
• 100% sustainable farming
• Hand-farmed & hand-harvested

Vintage: 

• Winter rainy season brought a moderate 15.2” of rainfall
• Cold front in February brought snow atop the Santa Lucia range
• Season started with a late budbreak, delayed by the cold
• Verasion was also late to start, but progressed fast with an onsetting warm spell
• Mild weather elongated our harvest from Sept 20 to Oct 16
• 2019 brought dense but fine tannins and wines built to age

Winemaking: 

• Hand Sorting
• 100% native-yeast fermentation
• 40% whole-cluster fermentation
• 100% French oak barrels: 62% new oak
• Minimal intervention is practiced
• Only natural settling of the wine is utilized: No use of fining or filtration

Ratings & Reviews

97 Points, Top 100 Wines of 2021 - Jeb Dunnuck:
"Another beautiful vintage for this cuvée, the 2019 Pinot Noir shows a more elegant, pure, classic style than some previous years, which were slightly richer and more bombastic. The 2019 reveals a medium ruby/purple hue (it's semi-opaque) to go with a gorgeous nose of ripe cherries, raspberries, and blueberries, followed by classic Pisoni minerality, brambly herbs, violets, and forest floor. As always, this site imparts an incredible sense of rocky, mineral-like nuances, and there's a liqueur of rock-like sensation on the finish. It needs an hour in the decanter if drinking any time soon and will have 15-20 years of prime drinking.” (Jul 2021)

96 Points - Vinous Media:
"Glistening ruby-red. Highly expressive, spice- and mineral-accented red/blue fruits, potpourri, vanilla and incense qualities on the assertively perfumed nose. Offers vibrant, finely detailed raspberry, cherry-cola and boysenberry flavors that deepen with air while maintaining urgency. The floral note repeats emphatically on a subtly tannic, strikingly long finish, featuring resonating spice, floral and red fruit notes. 40% whole clusters and 62% new French oak.” – Josh Raynolds (May 2022)

96 Points - Wine Enthusiast:
"This bottling manages to pack dense power into a silky, complex package. Aromas of baked cherry, brown sugar, French toast spices and generous oak make a sumptuous, luscious nose. The palate hits with firm tannins, then opens toward those lush blackberry pie and clove flavors, with mace lingering on the impressive finish. - Matt Kettmann (Apr 2022)