“Wine is both a reflection of the people who make it and the region that produces it,” writes Émile Peynaud in The Taste of Wine. Agreeing with the legendary French winemaker, Jeff, Gary and Mark Pisoni pair their signature style with the expression of the Santa Lucia Highlands—the fruit of the Pisoni, Soberanes and Garys’ vineyards—in their Lucia wines.

photo credit: Richard Green

If home is where the heart is, Pisoni Vineyards will always be a special place for the Pisoni family. What began as a dream-come-true for the late Eddie Pisoni and his wife Jane—a “type of place you can hardly find” for its ma-jestic beauty and sweeping views of the Salinas Valley below—also became the manifestation of their son Gary’s Burgundy-crazed imagination. The couple purchased the 280-acre property in 1979 as a little slice of heaven in the area the Spaniards called Eternidad Paraiso. Breathtaking at 1,300 feet above sea level, the land be-came the home ranch for Eddie’s three horses and a few head of cattle. The site of everything from simple picnics to spe-cial occasions, the mountain vineyard holds thirty-three years of memories for four generations of the Pisoni fam-ily. Good times there are as important as the Wine Enthusiast honor of being named one of America’s five “Grand Crus” for producing exceptional Pinot Noir grapes. But make no mistake. This is rugged country. Steep slopes slice upward through the bank of cool morning

fog, and the north wind whips across the vineyard blocks in the afternoon. Mountain lions and coyotes share the chaparral-brush habitat with black-tailed deer, rabbits, rattlesnakes and wild pigs that root in the decomposed granite soil. Along with the gophers and birds, most of these species love to munch on grapes. Water is hard to come by, as Gary dis-covered when he drilled five wells before finding a water source in 1991—almost ten years after planting the first vines in the virgin soil and trucking the precious liquid from the valley floor for irrigation. Bucking the tradition of the West, the planting and farming of Pisoni Vineyards isn’t about taming the wilderness. It’s about co-existing with Mother Nature as custodians of the land. Forty-five acres of individual vineyard blocks curve to the contours of the mountain, and Mark practices sustainable viticulture methods. The vineyard credited for putting the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA on the world wine map certainly marks a soft spot in the hearts of the Pisoni family.

The new kid on the Lucia Vineyards’ block, the Soberanes Vineyard is a joint venture between the Gary Pisoni and Gary Franscioni families. The site planted to forty acres of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah sits on the Santa Lucia Highlands bench about nine miles north of Pisoni Vineyards. The vineyard bears the name of José María Soberanes, who pitched a tent on the barren brown plain when trekking from Mexico with the famed Portola expedition of 1769, and his son Feliciano who acquired the rancho as repayment for forty horses, fifty head of cat-tle, four oxen and some sheep. The area was then called El Campo Real del Chocolate or Chocolate Camp. Today the same dark, rocky soil characterizes the land blanketed by fog every morning at about 450 feet in elevation, conditions that contribute to low temperatures and the slow, even ripening of grapes. M a r k r e c a l l s h i s Grandpa Eddie urg-ing, “Hey, we should do just five acres there or something,” when the pair drove past on their daily trek to Garys’ Vineyard. T h e fa m i l y p a t r i -arch’s wish has now taken root, and the Soberanes Vineyard benefits from the wis-dom gained from the

“I had no idea when I planted my first vines 30 years ago that Pisoni Vineyards would become one of the most famous vineyards in California.”

—Gary Pisoni, Maverick Vintner

map courtesy of Santa Lucia Highlands Wine Artisans

Pisonis having already planted two vineyards. The row direction runs from north to south, so the grapes will have more uniform sun expo-sure. Similar to practices in Burgundy, spacing between the plants was tightened up to pro-vide more plants per acre. Due to the close spacing, the plants don’t grow as large and produce less fruit. As a result, each vine fo-cuses more energy into fewer clusters, which enhances the flavor of the grapes.Gary compares young vineyards like the Soberanes to teenagers, explaining, “They’re full of energy and want to produce more fruit than they should. We have to give them more guidance by reducing the crop to bring them into balance.” New clone material was used for the Chardonnay block, and its first vintage—2010 Lucia Chardonnay, Soberanes Vineyard—offers a bright, vibrant, aromatic and feminine style.

“Complex flavors and racy acidity leap from the glass like the Soberanes Vineyard has jumped onto the wine scene.”

—Jeff Pisoni, Winemaker

The genesis of Garys’ Vineyard reads like a covert operation. In 1997, the two Garys—Gary Pisoni and Gary Franscioni—talked quietly about partnering on a vineyard venture. Franscioni began ac-tively looking for a Santa Lucia Highlands property that might suit their needs. The proprietor of ROAR Winery and Rosella’s Vineyard (and now Sierra Mar Vineyard) called the other Gary one night about a possible site.Early the next morning the two friends, who were born five weeks apart and learned to share their toy tractors as toddlers when their parents spent time together, undertook a mission possible. They met near the potential vineyard site, parking their trucks far enough away so passing farmers wouldn’t rec-ognize their vehicles or notice them eye-balling the real estate. With shovels in hand, they hiked to the ranch and jumped the fence that marked the perimeter of the property. They could hardly contain their excite-ment. A couple of quickly dug soil pits confirmed their hopes: This was a really great spot. Then and there, the Garys de-cided to seal the deal and plant grapes

on the fifty acres that had been home to cattle for generations. Noteworthy from the start, the Garys’ was singled out by Wine & Spirits in 2008 as one of the “Best New Vineyards” planted within the last ten years—a rarity that “shows its greatness within the first few flavorful crops.”Literally a stone’s throw north of the Soberanes Vineyard, the contiguous block planted to Pinot Noir and Syrah contains fifteen-year-old vines that con-sistently produce low yields. Although canopy-management practic-es vary from vineyard to vineyard, the Garys’ has much in common with the other two sites: cordon-pruned vines with vertical shoot positioning for mod-erate sun exposure and sufficient air-flow that reduces the risk of mildew and botrytis. The same team that has walked the vineyard rows for a decade and a half performs all the canopy work by hand. Investing so much hand labor is expen-sive and time-intensive yet absolutely essential for producing balanced vines and exceptional fruit.

“Although Dad and Gary have very different personalities, they are the perfect partners and have teamed up to set a standard for meticulous farming and outstanding wines at the Garys’ Vineyard.”

—Mark Pisoni, Viticulturist

photo credit: Richard Green

photo credit: Richard Green

If home is where the heart is, Pisoni Vineyards will always be a special place for the Pisoni family. What began as a dream-come-true for the late Eddie Pisoni and his wife Jane—a “type of place you can hardly find” for its ma-jestic beauty and sweeping views of the Salinas Valley below—also became the manifestation of their son Gary’s Burgundy-crazed imagination. The couple purchased the 280-acre property in 1979 as a little slice of heaven in the area the Spaniards called Eternidad Paraiso. Breathtaking at 1,300 feet above sea level, the land be-came the home ranch for Eddie’s three horses and a few head of cattle. The site of everything from simple picnics to spe-cial occasions, the mountain vineyard holds thirty-three years of memories for four generations of the Pisoni fam-ily. Good times there are as important as the Wine Enthusiast honor of being named one of America’s five “Grand Crus” for producing exceptional Pinot Noir grapes. But make no mistake. This is rugged country. Steep slopes slice upward through the bank of cool morning

fog, and the north wind whips across the vineyard blocks in the afternoon. Mountain lions and coyotes share the chaparral-brush habitat with black-tailed deer, rabbits, rattlesnakes and wild pigs that root in the decomposed granite soil. Along with the gophers and birds, most of these species love to munch on grapes. Water is hard to come by, as Gary dis-covered when he drilled five wells before finding a water source in 1991—almost ten years after planting the first vines in the virgin soil and trucking the precious liquid from the valley floor for irrigation. Bucking the tradition of the West, the planting and farming of Pisoni Vineyards isn’t about taming the wilderness. It’s about co-existing with Mother Nature as custodians of the land. Forty-five acres of individual vineyard blocks curve to the contours of the mountain, and Mark practices sustainable viticulture methods. The vineyard credited for putting the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA on the world wine map certainly marks a soft spot in the hearts of the Pisoni family.

The new kid on the Lucia Vineyards’ block, the Soberanes Vineyard is a joint venture between the Gary Pisoni and Gary Franscioni families. The site planted to forty acres of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah sits on the Santa Lucia Highlands bench about nine miles north of Pisoni Vineyards. The vineyard bears the name of José María Soberanes, who pitched a tent on the barren brown plain when trekking from Mexico with the famed Portola expedition of 1769, and his son Feliciano who acquired the rancho as repayment for forty horses, fifty head of cat-tle, four oxen and some sheep. The area was then called El Campo Real del Chocolate or Chocolate Camp. Today the same dark, rocky soil characterizes the land blanketed by fog every morning at about 450 feet in elevation, conditions that contribute to low temperatures and the slow, even ripening of grapes. M a r k r e c a l l s h i s Grandpa Eddie urg-ing, “Hey, we should do just five acres there or something,” when the pair drove past on their daily trek to Garys’ Vineyard. T h e fa m i l y p a t r i -arch’s wish has now taken root, and the Soberanes Vineyard benefits from the wis-dom gained from the

“I had no idea when I planted my first vines 30 years ago that Pisoni Vineyards would become one of the most famous vineyards in California.”

—Gary Pisoni, Maverick Vintner

map courtesy of Santa Lucia Highlands Wine Artisans

Pisonis having already planted two vineyards. The row direction runs from north to south, so the grapes will have more uniform sun expo-sure. Similar to practices in Burgundy, spacing between the plants was tightened up to pro-vide more plants per acre. Due to the close spacing, the plants don’t grow as large and produce less fruit. As a result, each vine fo-cuses more energy into fewer clusters, which enhances the flavor of the grapes.Gary compares young vineyards like the Soberanes to teenagers, explaining, “They’re full of energy and want to produce more fruit than they should. We have to give them more guidance by reducing the crop to bring them into balance.” New clone material was used for the Chardonnay block, and its first vintage—2010 Lucia Chardonnay, Soberanes Vineyard—offers a bright, vibrant, aromatic and feminine style.

“Complex flavors and racy acidity leap from the glass like the Soberanes Vineyard has jumped onto the wine scene.”

—Jeff Pisoni, Winemaker

The genesis of Garys’ Vineyard reads like a covert operation. In 1997, the two Garys—Gary Pisoni and Gary Franscioni—talked quietly about partnering on a vineyard venture. Franscioni began ac-tively looking for a Santa Lucia Highlands property that might suit their needs. The proprietor of ROAR Winery and Rosella’s Vineyard (and now Sierra Mar Vineyard) called the other Gary one night about a possible site.Early the next morning the two friends, who were born five weeks apart and learned to share their toy tractors as toddlers when their parents spent time together, undertook a mission possible. They met near the potential vineyard site, parking their trucks far enough away so passing farmers wouldn’t rec-ognize their vehicles or notice them eye-balling the real estate. With shovels in hand, they hiked to the ranch and jumped the fence that marked the perimeter of the property. They could hardly contain their excite-ment. A couple of quickly dug soil pits confirmed their hopes: This was a really great spot. Then and there, the Garys de-cided to seal the deal and plant grapes

on the fifty acres that had been home to cattle for generations. Noteworthy from the start, the Garys’ was singled out by Wine & Spirits in 2008 as one of the “Best New Vineyards” planted within the last ten years—a rarity that “shows its greatness within the first few flavorful crops.”Literally a stone’s throw north of the Soberanes Vineyard, the contiguous block planted to Pinot Noir and Syrah contains fifteen-year-old vines that con-sistently produce low yields. Although canopy-management practic-es vary from vineyard to vineyard, the Garys’ has much in common with the other two sites: cordon-pruned vines with vertical shoot positioning for mod-erate sun exposure and sufficient air-flow that reduces the risk of mildew and botrytis. The same team that has walked the vineyard rows for a decade and a half performs all the canopy work by hand. Investing so much hand labor is expen-sive and time-intensive yet absolutely essential for producing balanced vines and exceptional fruit.

“Although Dad and Gary have very different personalities, they are the perfect partners and have teamed up to set a standard for meticulous farming and outstanding wines at the Garys’ Vineyard.”

—Mark Pisoni, Viticulturist

photo credit: Richard Green

photo credit: Richard Green

Soberanes Vineyard Offering

2010 Lucia Chardonnay, Soberanes Vineyard

The first release of our Soberanes Vineyard Char-donnay is very exciting. The complex wine pos-sesses a vivacious intensity. Aromatics leap out of the glass with impressions of orange blossoms, lemon oil, minerality and white nectarines. On the palate, the texture is full with ample weight, but at the same time the bright acidity gives the wine lift as it forms a long, seamless finish. Drink now through 2018.

Garys’ Vineyard Offering

2010 Lucia Pinot Noir, Garys’ Vineyard

A very inviting nose seduces with hints of rose petal and violet, and then shows its fuller side of raspberry, strawberry and baking spice. The wine displays its single-vineyard pedigree with the length on the palate. A rich mouthfeel stretches out with firm tannins and a long finish. Decant for 30 minutes if drinking within the first year of release. Drink now through 2018.

Santa Lucia Highlands Cuvées

2010 Lucia Chardonnay, Santa Lucia Highlands

The Santa Lucia Highlands cuvée displays bright aromatics more centered around fruit characteris-tics: white peach, green mango, citrus and pine-apple. The texture is rich and full-bodied with a gentle finish. Very approachable, flavorful and a great representation of Santa Lucia Highlands. Drink now through 2015.

2010 Lucia Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands

Deep garnet in color, this blend of Pinot Noir from the Garys’ and Pisoni Vineyards displays the fruit and spice often eminent in the appellation. Aromas of spiced cherry, wild strawberry, spiced plum and clove combine. On the palate, the wine has good weight and a velvety structure. Drink now through 2016.

2011 Lucy Rosé of Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands

Displaying a light strawberry color, the 2011 Lucy sourced from all three vineyards offers striking and vibrant aromatics. Notes of Rainier cherry, perfectly ripe strawberry and watermelon come across in a very focused, delineated fashion. The palate is refreshing, and the crisp acidity causes a mouth-watering reaction, just requiring another sip. Serve chilled.

—Jeff Pisoni, Winemaker

TASTING NOTES

Lucia Vineyards & Winery P.O. Box 908, Gonzales, CA 93926 ph: 800.946.3130 | fax: 831.675.2557 | www.luciavineyards.com

Spring 2012 Writer: Susan Pisoni Tavernetti | Design: Erin RandolphPhotography: Richard Green and Pisoni Family