2023 Clarice Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
Combining grapes from two single-vineyard designates, Garys' and Rosella's, the 2023 Pinot Noir is a tremendous showcase for them and the winemaking, providing a structured intensity of youthful tannins that have a chalky, dusty texture. Rich red berry, a touch of dried herb and sage, and integrated oak add a complement of fruit and savory components that complement one another well. Drink now through 2033. Clarice is Adam Lee’s SLH-focused wine brand, named for his grandmother.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com
More reviews and scores
Tasted weeks before its August bottling, the 2023 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands shows excellent promise. The nose combines ripe but balanced dark fruits and fresh herb aromas, leading to a silky, focused texture and a grippy, long, and layered finish. This will be interesting to review after some time in the bottle, but this vintage's elegance and lifted qualities seem to instill a welcome energy and purity across the range.
Tasted from tank just prior to bottling, the 2023 Pinot Noir (Santa Lucia Highlands) is a stone-cold stunner. A rush of blue/purple fruit, deep, layered exotic spice tones and calibrated cooling acidity join together in a wine of supreme finesse. A slight decrease in whole cluster usage in this even, long-hanging vintage worked so well. I can’t wait to taste this from bottle.
Youthful magenta in color at this stage and tasted as a barrel sample, the 2023 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands is mostly sourced from the Garys' Vineyard, with roughly a quarter from the Rosella's Vineyard. It’s fantastic at this early stage, offering spicy aromas of ripe black raspberries, violets, and wet stones that continues to the palate with a crunchy youthfulness. It’s going to take its time loosening its grip, as it has good tension all the way through, but this is going to be a vibrant vintage for this wine that I’m looking forward to tasting after bottling.