Luli Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands 2021
(Santa Lucia Highlands, California) - [WE 93]

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: After an extremely difficult 2020 growing season and continued below average rainfall throughout Monterey County, the 2021 vintage saw clear skies and moderate temperatures which provided above average yields and near perfect quality. A particularly dry winter provided only 7” of rain to the county in the beginning of the 2021 season (four inches of which fell during a single late January storm). A cold spring and later than average budbreak, beginning at the end of March, slowed early vine growth and required patience in the vineyard. Summer saw an excellent fruit set and cooler than average weather that allowed for slow, methodical ripening and preservation of vital acidity. Cooler temperatures persisted throughout the harvest season as grapes made their way to the winery at a gentle, yet consistent pace.

THE VINEYARD: The 2021 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.