![Luli Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands 2022 (Santa Lucia Highlands, California) - [VM 91]](http://artisan.wine/cdn/shop/files/LuliPNSLH_{width}x.jpg?v=1696976393)
Luli Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands 2022
(Santa Lucia Highlands, California) - [VM 91]
Regular price $36.00 Sale price $23.97 Save $12.03
Luli represents a partnership formed by Sara Floyd and the Pisoni Family. Sara Floyd is a Master Sommelier with many years of food and wine experience. The Pisoni Family is known for their eponymous vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands and for Pisoni Estate and Lucia wines. Deciding they would make a great partnership and noting the shortage of handcrafted wines at reasonable prices, they set out to create a new line of wines for this niche. To achieve this, Floyd and the Pisoni Family focus on purchasing grapes from multiple vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands and the greater Monterey County—California coastal regions excellent for growing cool climate grapes.
THE VINTAGE:
The 2022 vintage was dry and early, which resulted in beautifully fragrant and concentrated wines. Rainfall was low as the California drought continued through this year, further stressing the vines. A warmer than average February began to awaken the vines earlier than expected, and late spring brought on a stretch of cooler temperatures that slowed the growth of the vines and proved essential for tannin and color development. A cool August allowed for phenolic development while sugar accumulation remained very slow. Using past vintages as a guide and wanting to harvest before the hotter weather materialized, we made longer passes through the vineyard each night to ensure all blocks were harvested at our desired moments. This approach paid off and the 2022 vintage has higher than average concentration with vibrant aromatics
THE VINEYARD:
The 2022 Luli was sourced entirely from various sustainably farmed vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands. The vines are well-trained, carry low yields and are planted to a variety of different clones. Soils are well-drained and primarily granite in composition. These factors, combined with the fog and cool winds of the Santa Lucia Highlands provide wonderful growing conditions for Pinot Noir.
THE WINEMAKING:
The Luli Pinot Noir was made with classic winemaking techniques: Hand-sorting of the fruit, native yeasts for fermentation and production in small lots. The wine was aged in ‘neutral’ French oak barrels and was not fined or filtered. The resulting balanced wine is a tribute to the region’s success with Pinot Noir.
The 2022 Luli Pinot Noir embodies the combination of elegance and richness. This wine possesses a deep ruby hue and a mélange of exuberant aromas. Notes of Bing cherry and wild raspberry mingle with hints of cedar spice and delicate violets creating an enticing bouquet. The palate displays the broad textual notes common from these rugged hillsides of the Santa Lucia Highlands. Decomposed granite soils stressed the vines and 2022 was a particularly low yielding year. Vibrant flavors of juicy plum dance alongside muddled raspberries and layered tannins. This Pinot Noir wonderfully captures the cool, foggy weather of the Santa Lucia Highlands.
91 Points - Vinous Media:
"The 2022 Pinot Noir (Santa Lucia Highlands) is textbook SLH—everything you want from an easygoing, early-drinking red. Sweet raspberry, lavender and sour cherry open in the glass, giving way to a generous mouthfeel that coats every corner of the palate in juicy red fruit. Considering the growing season, a touch of heat on the finish is eminently forgivable. Drink this charming Pinot over the next few years. The quality-to-price ratio is undeniable. (Drink between 2024-2028)" – Billy Norris (Aug 2024)