Lucia Vineyards Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay 2019
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Connoisseurs'
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Winemaker Notes
Always a perfect pair, the Pisoni and Soberanes vineyards blend seamlessly to create the 2019 Lucia Chardonnay. In its infancy, this wine possesses a greenish lemon hue while catching the light of each swirl in the glass. The rocky, granite laden soils of the Soberanes Vineyard give distinct structure, with chalky, wet stone notes, backed by bright flavors of green apple and lemon zest. Not to be outdone, the Pisoni Vineyard, with its higher elevation, gives added richness and power to the wine in the form of ripe pear, apple crisp, and vanilla bean notes. Together, these sites create a wine with exquisite balance, purity of fruit, and a pillar of bright, focused acidity.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Starting with the appellation 2019 Chardonnay Santa Lucia Highlands, this light gold-hued effort has a big, exuberant bouquet of honeyed melon, pineapple, chalky minerality, and subtle toasty nuances. Beautifully textured, medium to full-bodied, and balanced, it's perfect for readers wanting to see the quality coming from the Santa Lucia Highlands, or the style of this label. It will keep for 4-6 years, if not longer, although there's no need to delay gratification.
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Wine Enthusiast
There's a richness to the nose of this bottling, showing aromas of a marzipan glaze on peaches alongside pineapple and honeysuckle. The palate throws in the edge of riverstone minerality, weaving a tense structure through the apricot and pineapple flavors, with a long-lingering burst of acidity.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Lucia's 2019 Santa Lucia Highlands appellation bottling is not far removed in character from the its maker's Soberanes Vineyard offering of the same vintage other than it is a bit more forthright in fruit and slightly rounder in feel at this point. It flirts with the same minerally qualities while giving more emphasis to its rich mix of oak-sweetened apples and citrus, and, if like its mate, it has the structure and vigor to age handsomely, we suspect it will reach its peak a year or two sooner.
Other Vintages
2020-
Wine
Spectator
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
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Spectator
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker -
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Enthusiast -
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Spectator
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Jeb
Dunnuck
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Perhaps the most highly regarded appellation within Monterey County, Santa Lucia Highlands AVA benefits from a combination of warm morning sunshine and brisk afternoon breezes, allowing grapes to ripen slowly and fully. The result is concentrated, flavorful wines that retain their natural acidity. Wineries here do not shy away from innovation, and place a high priority on sustainable viticultural practices.
The climatic conditions here are perfectly suited to the production of ripe, rich Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. These Burgundian varieties dominate an overwhelming percentage of plantings, though growers have also found success with Syrah, Riesling and Pinot Gris.