2014 Lucia, Gary’s Vineyard Syrah
Santa Lucia Highlands, California

Lucia 2014 Garys' Vineyard Syrah

With generations of farming history in Monterey County, and a commitment to making exceptional wines, The Pisoni
Family hand-crafts the Lucia wines from the Pisoni, Garys’ and Soberanes Vineyards of the Santa Lucia Highlands.


THE VINEYARD

The Garys’ Vineyard is a joint venture between two native growers of the Santa Lucia Highlands; Gary Pisoni and Gary Franscioni planted this 50-acre vineyard to Pinot Noir and Syrah in 1997. The vineyard’s position on a sloping hillside in the center of the 16-mile long appellation offers a true representation of the Santa Lucia Highlands: alluvial soils with heavy fog and strong, cold winds in the summer—ideal for what the SOMM Journal has deemed “quintessential Pinot Noir.”

WINEMAKING

The Pisoni Family is committed to raising and hand-crafting exceptional wines.  The limited-production Lucia wines are created using classic, gentle and thoughtful winemaking techniques. Hand-picked and sorted grapes are fermented on native yeasts and aged in carefully selected French oak barrels. Our state-of-the-art winemaking facility uses gravity flow as part of a custom design conceived to merge the estate vineyards  and winery. This affords us complete control of the farming and winemaking process, ensuring consistently superior quality.

THE VINTAGE

The 2014 growing season in Monterey County was one of the driest on record.  This was the third consecutive drought year, and continued lack of rainfall led to early season stress on the vines. The result was smaller canopies but very phenologically developed fruit. We made multiple, careful pruning passes through each of the vineyards, dropping large amounts of fruit to balance these smaller canopies with the crop levels. Winter and Spring were mild, which led to an early bud break. A cool summer slowed the growing season, and harvest began in the first weeks of September, much earlier than is typical for the AVA.  The 2014 wines possess great elegance, vibrance, and intensity.

TASTING NOTES

Explosive aromas leap from the glass. The Lucia Garys’ Vineyard Syrah has intense aromas of wildflowers, wet rocks, fresh white pepper and a subtle gaminess. This wine has a striking focus and beauty. Primarily whole–cluster fermentation (also requiring foot-treading) gives great depth to the structure and “lift” to the nose. Tannins are full and age worthy, while at the same time, inviting. Given the right food pairing, this wine is hard to resist now, but will age gracefully for many years in the cellar.

CASES PRODUCED:
175
RELEASE DATE:
Summer 2016
WINEMAKER:
Jeff Pisoni
BARREL AGING:
15 months in 40% New Oak
BARREL ORIGIN:
100% French
WHOLE CLUSTER:
75%
FERMENTATION:
100% Native Yeast