the Vintage

The 2024 vintage in the Santa Lucia Highlands was defined by a cool summer and a welcome warm spell in September. Harvest landed near the midpoint between the early 2022 and late 2023 vintages. Overall, the wines show bright energy and lift with ripened tannins and a polished, layered texture. The season began cold with intermittent storms delivering near-average rainfall (13 inches) that sufficiently charged the soils. Our native cover crop responded early, and vine growth began strong. Flowering and set tracked later than normal due to the cooler springtime temperatures. Budbreak arrived on schedule in late March, followed by a mild spring and summer that kept the pace of ripening steady. As we entered September, two temperature swings shaped our picking decisions.

Harvest began in the first week of September as warm temperatures arrived and opened an early picking window. Harvest then came to an abrupt halt in mid-September when temperatures dropped to unusually cold levels. Ripening slowed and phenolic development stretched out, so we waited patiently, sampling daily and walking the vineyard. Over a week later, temperatures began to rise and harvest resumed at a more rapid pace. The resulting Pisoni and Lucia wines show the beauty and precision that come from a slow, steady season, paired with the depth and supple texture from a riper tannin year. 2024 brought a rare combination of conditions that produced beautifully balanced wines.

the Vineyard

Grown exclusively from our Pisoni and Soberanes vineyards, the Lucia Estate Cuvée of Chardonnay is a wonderful representation of our estate vineyards, of which each block is cultivated to the same high standards. These wines offer excellent value, and Jeb Dunnuck has previously described these AVA blends as “a perfect example of the incredible quality that’s consistently coming from this estate.”

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 with native yeast 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

The 2024 Lucia Chardonnay Estate Cuvée is built on the tension and harmony of our two distinctly coastal sites. A blend of 68% Soberanes Vineyard and 32% Pisoni Vineyards, it brings together the bracing, fog-laden acidity of Soberanes with the high-elevation breadth and texture of Pisoni Vineyards. Pale lemon in the glass with youthful green highlights, the wine opens with lifted aromas of Meyer lemon zest, Bosc pear, crushed rock and hints of jasmine. On the palate, bright citrus oil and white peach are layered over a rich mid-palate, finishing with a cleansing line of acidity and subtle coastal salinity. Fermented with native yeast and aged with zero racking for the most restrained touch, this Chardonnay is both generous and focused.