Lucia by Pisoni "Soberanes Vineyard" Chardonnay 2024
(Santa Lucia Highlands, California) - [VM 96] [JD 96] [WS 93]

Notes from the Winemaker:
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.

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 recently 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.

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 Soberanes Vineyard is a combination of several different clones and is a vibrant expression of this rocky site in the Santa Lucia Highlands. The first impression is flinty and stony minerality followed by lifted notes of zested bergamot, white peach, and spring flowers. The palate carries a firm, focused structure, with layers of stone fruit, lemon curd, and crushed granite unfolding into a long, seamless finish. Aged in Foudre to enhance the focus, the wine has ample volume and length. Aging this wine on the lees with no stirring brings texture, but retains focus and elegance. This Chardonnay possesses fantastic energy and drinks well now, but will provide up to twenty years of aging in the cellar. 

Cases Produced 215

Release Date Spring 2026

Winemaker Jeff Pisoni

Barrel Aging 17 Months in barrel and Foudre 35% 

Cooperage 100% French Oak

Fermentation 100% Native Yeast

Ratings & Reviews

96 Points - Vinous Media:
"The 2024 Chardonnay Soberanes Vineyard is heady, floral, laden with citrus pith bitterness and buzzing with salty, enlivened acids. There’s a sense of a coiled-up springiness here, building in the glass before the wine explodes through the finish. The 2024 possesses generous texture and also lightness on its feet—a super-appealing combination. I loved this from barrel, and the finished wine is every bit as great. Aging for 17 months in 30% new oak followed by 5 months in stainless steel yields a wine of exceptional focus." -  Billy Norris (May 2026)

96 Points - Jeb Dunnuck:
"The 2024 Chardonnay Soberanes Vineyard spent a year in barrel, larger format, and is a block-specific bottling from a rocky, granite-filled section of the site planted to old Wente and Montrachet clones, which goes mostly to Jeff Pisoni. Flinty, it’s a focused, tension-filled wine of tremendous energy and finesse, medium-bodied and richly layered with integrated acidity and lovely components of stone fruit and citrus, just an exceptional, well-balanced wine. Drink now through 2032." - Virgina Boone (Jun 2026)

93 Points - Wine Spectator:
"Pineapple upside-down cake, salted caramel and baked apple flavors are generous and plump, with a terrific thread of acidity, plus notes of candied ginger, orange zest and Creamsicle that show plenty of torque on the long, expressive finish, where lemon oil and tangerine details linger. Drink now through 2038. 215 cases made." - MaryAnn Worobiec (Jul 2026)