Theopolis Vineyards Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir 2016:
Description: This Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir is a wine of beauty and elegance, with aromas of black cherries, raspberries and cranberries, along with subtle spicy oak notes. It is highlighted by undertones of forest floor with flavors of ripe, red fruits to round out the bouquet. On the palate, this Pinot Noir has an expansive mouthfeel with a soft and gentle finish.
Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir
Harvest Date: September 22, 2016
Bottling Date: July 17, 2017
Vinification: This Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir is fermented in 0.75-ton bins, manually punched down, aged in 40% one-year-old, and 60% neutral French oak barrels for 10 months, bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Alcohol: 14.6%
Color: Maroon Claret
Food Pairing Suggestions: This Pinot Noir pairs beautifully with pork, fowl, salmon, tuna, and roasted mushrooms
Production: 110 Cases
Awards:
93 POINTS - WINE ENTHUSIAST, EDITOR’S CHOICE
"A stellar example of freshness from a richer region, this bottling offers buoyant and snappy raspberry fruit on, the nose alongside dewy forest floor, tangy juniper, soft rose petals and a hint of nutmeg. Fresh and invigorating on the palate, the sip shows tart raspberry, crushed thyme, green peppercorn, and tapenade flavors." - M. K.
92 POINTS - GRAPELIVE
"The 2016 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot is a small batch wine, only 110 cases from select sites in the Highlands, and it’s a gem of a Pinot Noir with lush and youthful flavors that showcases the vintage perfectly. The sultry and soulful Theopolis Vineyard Pinot shines brightly in the glass with a ruby/claret hue and seductive red fruits, snappy spicy notes, subtle earthy elements, and ultra-smooth/luxurious textures, starting with raspberry, black cherry, wild strawberry, and plum fruits, light floral notes, briar/bramble, loam, baking spices, a touch of mocha and liquid rose petals. This wine should gain mouth feel and silkiness over the next year in bottle, but certainly, it will be a Pinot you’ll want to enjoy especially in its youth, I like it's juicy lift and open nature, it will be best between 2018 and 2022 and will be a good food wine, in particular ahi tuna tartare, cajun style blackened salmon and earthy mushroom dishes." - Kerry Winslow
2018 Bronze Medal - San Francisco International Wine Competition
2018 Silver Medal - New Orleans International Wine Awards
Theopolis Vineyards is a small lot vineyard and hand-crafted winery located in California’s prestigious Yorkville Highlands of the Anderson Valley. Situated along Highway 128 in southeastern Mendocino County near the border of Sonoma County, the AVA is a highly elevated, rugged interior wine-growing area. Established in 2003, Wine Critic Robert Parker bestowed upon wine made from grapes harvested from Theopolis Vineyards a stellar rating of 94-96 points, a spectacular showing for the vintner’s first harvest in 2006.
