2016 Pisoni Estate Pinot Noir
FARMERS. WINEMAKERS. Members of the Pisoni Family work together, committed to growing exceptional grapes and crafting compelling wines from their vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands.
First planted by Gary Pisoni in 1982, and now managed by his son Mark, Pisoni Vineyards consists of small vineyard blocks arranged on and around the ridges of the mountainous landscape. Ranging in size from one-half to 17 acres, the vineyard blocks perch at an altitude of 1,300 feet in the granite-laced mountains of the coastal Santa Lucia Range.
The Pisoni Family produces essentially one wine per year under this label. The wine is a blend from several blocks on the Estate and is handcrafted to best represent the vineyard and spirit of the Pisoni Family. Jeff Pisoni, Gary’s other son, is the winemaker for the Pisoni Estate wines.
Total production ranges from 500 to 800 cases annually, depending on yield.
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 rainfall of 12 inches was welcomed and more than recent years
- 2016 proved to a record year of drought conditions for California
- Season started with early budbreak as witnessed in prior dry years
- Spring time flowering conditions were beautiful and brought above average crop levels
- Canopy growth was low and we therefore removed much fruit to not overly stress the vines
- Tannin ripening and development was exceptional
WINERY
- Hand sorting
- 100% native-yeast fermentation
- 0% whole-cluster fermentation
- Select French oak barrels: 63% new oak; 11 months aging in barrel
- Minimal intervention is practiced
- Only natural settling of the wine is utilized: No use of fining or filtration
Notes
Just as a walk through a summer garden provides flashes of color, the 2016 Pisoni Estate
Pinot Noir offers aromatic bursts of wild strawberry, freshly-cut violets, and rose petal.
Its vibrancy in the glass is matched on the palate with intensely pure fruit within which
Bing cherry notes marry with hints of baking spice and vanilla. Blankets of fog protected
the slow-ripening fruit on the vines so that each grape cluster eased its way into assured
phenolic development by harvest. The resulting wine’s firm tannin and focused acidity
move toward a broad, thorough finish. This is a wine capable of harmonizing each of
its attributes and that demonstrates its potential to develop beautifully in bottle for the
coming decade and beyond.
- Mark & Gary Pisoni, Vineyard Managers
- Jeff Pisoni, Winemaker
- Alcohol: 14.1%
- Cases Produced: 615
- Bottled Date:
- Release Date: September 2018
Explore
Pisoni Vineyards: Embraced by Fog 
Jeb Dunnuck on the 2016 Vintage 
2016 Pisoni Estate Release