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

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.

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

Sourced from the highest elevation block of Pisoni Vineyards, Susan’s Hill is a rugged, windswept hillside that yields a dense and concentrated Syrah. Produced from meager yields of less than 2 tons per acre, the 2024 Lucia Syrah, Susan’s Hill is deep purple in the glass and immediately compelling. The nose offers muddled blackberry, lifted floral tones, and underlying leather and tobacco leaf. On the palate, the wine is muscular and mouth-coating, with powerful tannins that reflect the vineyard’s schist-laden hillside. This is a cellar-worthy Syrah with the structure and stamina to develop for many years.