2023 Clarice Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands

VIN95 The 2023 Pinot Noir (Santa Lucia Highlands) is a total powerhouse. This blend of 71% Garys’ and 29% Rosella’s churns out a ton of blue-toned fruit, lavender, graphite, rosemary and chalk, all accented by a flourish of spice. The slightly lighter style of the year comes through here, but in this case, it works so well, rendering this (as well as the other two Clarice ‘23s) unusually approachable today. This is a seriously complex, beautifully finessed wine.

JD94-96 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.