A Vision of Constant Progress.
2014 Pisoni Estate Release
The evolution of a new planting. Blanketed in fog at Pisoni Vineyards rest new and established vines side-by-side.The Vineyard . . .
Our family isn’t known for resting on our laurels. We have been growing wine grapes for more than thirty years and making estate wines for close to twenty, always with a vision for setting the bar higher with each vintage.
At Pisoni vineyards, we replanted a block of Pinot Noir grafted on drought-tolerant rootstocks that push deep into the soil. Roots run deep to find moisture, making our vineyard more sustainable and the vines more likely to produce superior fruit over the long term.
Planting a new block demands a serious time commitment. You must exude patience and be willing to sacrifice more than four fruit-bearing years. The new Pinot Noir block began producing fruit in 2015 and will someday become part of our Pisoni Estate wine program.
The Winery . . .
As we continue to tailor our wine program to allow for separate fermenting and aging of each block of grapes, we are also finding an eminent need to create a facility specifically designed for our needs. We are painstakingly engineering our new winery around every block in the vineyard, from fine-tuning the placement of each fermentation tank to creating more space for research and development.
Wine aging in barrel thrives in the right habitat, and, with almost twenty years of making wine under our belts, we are still refining and improving procedures. As we write this, we are putting the final touches on the tank placement and look forward to the 2016 harvest and many more harvests to come being produced in our newly customized space.
& Out on the town . . .
Whether hosting a small group in our California vineyards or speaking in front of a large audience in New York, Gary loves sharing his stories with wine enthusiasts. The Pebble Beach Food and Wine event, set against the beautiful Pacific coastline, is one of Gary’s favorite annual events.
We were also invited to participate at the esteemed Wine Spectator’s New York Wine Experience. Gary spent the morning on a panel with Jim Laube, Eva Dehlinger, Anne Moller-Racke of Donum, and Scott McLeod of Skywalker. Gary fully enjoyed sharing the history of our vineyards and our wines; he even wore a tie to the event, leaving many in disbelief! Wine Spectator has a video of the discussion on their website where you can see Gary in action.
For two years in a row, our Pisoni Estate Pinot Noir has been selected for Jeb Dunnuck’s year-end “Guide to the Best” in The Wine Advocate. Truly an honor.
A wine of great depth and purity. The 2014 Pisoni Estate Chardonnay possesses a nose of nectarine, lemon peel, brioche and hints of white flowers. This tiny blend of four barrels consists of 50% new French oak. Aging occurred on the lees with minimal stirring for 15 months. There is great breadth and a long finish with crisp acidity which recalls the cold mornings high up in the mountains of the Santa Lucia Highlands.
The 2014 season gave us a beautiful combination of freshness and structure in the Pisoni Estate Pinot Noir. It is rich and vibrant, with a deep crimson red color and bouquet of violets and rose petals with underlying fresh Santa Rosa plums, boysenberries and pomegranate. This was a dry year producing thorough development of the berries, yielding velvety and approachable tannins with a long finish. It is a blend of select vineyard blocks of varying age and characteristics that give additional depth to the palate. This wine will be great for cellaring from mid to long-term.
The 2014 Susan’s Hill Syrah is bold and intense with elegant nuances. Piercing aromas of blackberry, olive, wet stone, baking spice and the familiarity of a worn leather chair. It is the soil’s layers of granite and schist that produce the dense and almost chewy tannins to this Syrah. The palate is tight, indicating the cellaring potential, but with time in the glass it unfolds into a mouth-coating, layered, high-altitude Syrah.
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