For a decade now, the Santa Lucia Highlands Appellation has provided us with one of our most compelling Appellation wines. Ten years ago, with the 1999 vintage we released our first Santa Lucia Highlands Appellation blend and it received a 92 point rating from Wine Spectator. This wine, the 2009 Siduri Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir, also just received a 92 rating from Wine Spectator. Bookends to a great decade of fruit and wine!

Perhaps it isn't surprising that our Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noirs have been so consistently outstanding. As the market became more crowded and the economy became more challenging, some wineries turned to purchasing lesser quality grapes or bulk wine made by others for their less expensive Appellation blends. We've continued to purchase grapes exclusively from vineyards grown by our good friends, the Pisoni and the Franscioni families. These vineyards are some of the most iconic in California and produce our most consistently fine single-vineyard Pinot Noirs. Not surprisingly, their fruit also shines in our Santa Lucia Highlands Appellation blend.

The 2009 SLH Pinot is a blend of 45% Rosella's Vineyard, 26% Pisoni, 20% Garys', and 9% Sierra Mar Vineyard Pinot Noirs. This also means that it is a blend of varying clones, including the Pisoni Selection, Dijon clones 777 and 828, and Pommard. While each vineyard section brings different characteristics to the blend, we generally characterize the Rosella's Vineyard as providing the wine's mid-palate, the Garys' Vineyard lifting the wine's nose and upfront fruit, and both the Pisoni and Sierra Mar Vineyards producing much of the wine's weight and tannins. In this case, the goal was to marry these elements together and produce one seamless wine, something we think we achieved.

As we noted earlier, Wine Spectator recently reviewed this wine and rated it 92 points. Here's what they wrote, "Firm and well-structured, with a complex band of wild berry and blackberry, spice and floral notes. Full-bodied, gaining depth, richness and nuance, this ends with a return to the berry medley on the finish. Drink now through 2018." We hope that you enjoy it!

 

Cases: 1855
Released: February 2011