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.
2017 Lucia, Soberanes Vineyard Chardonnay Santa Lucia Highlands, California
the 2017 VINTAGE
Drizzly days, showery days, days of driving rain: after several years of drought conditions, the thirteen inches of moisture that soaked into the parched earth prior to the 2017 harvest provided an incredibly welcome start to the growing season. Although the total rainfall was only slightly higher than our annual average, it was more than two-and- a half times greater than the meager five inches we received during each of the two preceding years. The warm, wet winter offered a very healthy start to the grapevines, encouraging them to build strong canopies. Budbreak began the third week of March, and the increased growth that followed kept Mark and his team well occupied shaping and managing the canopy throughout the spring to maintain excellent vine balance. Like the winter, the summer that followed was warmer than average. Nonetheless, the Santa Lucia Highlands experienced their typical coastal winds and cooling morning fog. The result was that the growing season progressed nicely with excellent phenological development of the vines. A record-level heat wave surprised us in essentially all regions of California at the beginning of September. The heat prompted us to begin the harvest in some of our blocks the first week of the month. We irrigated others to maintain and support the ripening grapes amid the heat; by October 6th, approximately a month after we began the harvest, we took in the last batch of fruit.
the Vineyard
The Soberanes Vineyard is the latest joint venture between the Pisoni and Franscioni families. Situated on the Santa Lucia Highlands Bench adjacent to the Garys’ Vineyard and named “one of the appellation’s most esteemed properties” by the Wine Enthusiast, the site features tightly spaced vines and is planted to 33 acres of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah. The clonal material planted in the loamy, rocky soil is very diverse and features over a dozen of the most renowned heritage selections from California and Burgundy.
the 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.
TASTING NOTES
Shimmering with a youthful brilliance in the glass, the 2017 Lucia Soberanes Vineyard Chardonnay offers a lifted aromatics of lemon oil, orange blossom, and green apple on the finish. A product of the dense, rocky soils of this site, the wine is flinty and mineral-driven to its core. Its focused acidity bursts with energy as it dances on the palate. Each windswept grape cluster delivers immense concentration that is carefully extracted through gentle pressing. Minimal stirring of the lees over the course of a 15-month slumber in the cellar provides this chardonnay with a focused intensity. In the glass, this wine comes to life with a flawless balance of fruit, density and length, all of which combine to produce a delicate tension that will reward for many years to come.
| Cases Produced | 199 |
|---|---|
| Release Date | Spring 2019 |
| Winemaker | Jeff Pisoni |
| Barrel Aging | 15 months in 50% New Oak |
|---|---|
| Barrel Origin | 100% French Oak |
| Fermentation | 100% Native Yeast |
Barrel Size Matters for Lucia Chardonnay 
Jeb Dunnuck’s Vertical Tasting of Pisoni Estate Chardonnay 
Farming for the Future.