THE VINEYARD

Susan’s Hill, named for Gary’s sister Susan, is a special block within Pisoni Vineyards. Planted in 2001, this block sits on a rocky outcrop and crowns one of the vineyard’s highest ridges. Its peak is exposed to the elements and buffeted by heavy winds. The coarse, rocky soils ensure that the vines are extremely stressed, resulting in wines that are dark in color and very intense.

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

Farming was extremely important in 2015.  An unseasonably warm winter led to the earliest bud break on record in the Santa Lucia Highlands, effectively shifting the growing season to the early months of the year. May was cold, overcast and windy. Flowering occurred during these fierce weather conditions, resulting in a poor set.  Shatter was rampant.   It became clear early on that 2015 would be a low-yielding vintage.  With crop levels down 70% in some blocks, it was imperative that the remaining fruit be tended with utmost care.  Fortunately, summer cooperated with mild temperatures and normal levels of fog, so vine development kept its usual pace.  Harvest began the last week in August and spanned the month of September.  Despite the early start and finish to harvest, total time for fruit on the vines was relatively typical, and Brix levels were lower than normal due to one more year of drought stress on the vines and early phenolic maturity.

TASTING NOTES