Handford Wines

Dan Lee, owner of Morgan Vineyards, has been dealing with fruit from the Santa Lucia Highlands for as long as almost anyone in Monterey County. A key to making great Pinot Noir in that location, he points out, is the late-afternoon wind that runs down the Salinas Valley from deep-trenched Monterey Bay. By slowing down the ripening cycle, the stiff breezes create a faint herbal note in Pinot Noir. It is this very note that gives Lee’s Morgan Vineyards Pinots a “Monterey classic” aroma, meaning they have a distinctive green pea or tobacco/spinach note alongside penetrating cherry flavors. Still, as delightful as these wines have been, and as commercially successful, Lee’s quest to find proper cites for a more Eurocentric-classic (Burgundian) lilt to the fruit has led him to a number of vineyards on the Santa Lucia Highlands bench that really deliver distinctive flavors. His recent releases have included vineyard designates “12 Clones”, one from the acclaimed “Gary’s Vineyard” ($55), and from his own “Rosella’s Vineyard”. This wine delivers a startling aroma of ripe, fresh strawberries and has lesser notes of dried herbs and spices (like nutmeg) along with a complexing trace of petroleum. There is brilliant fruit and structure here and a load of flavor. It is one of the best Pinots I have had in years.

The Wine

At the annual Stonier's (Australian winery) media and buyer blind tasting of 14 wines, this was rated as my top wine, narrowly ahead of the Stoniers Reserve Pinot Noir. I picked it blind as coming from California with its huge fragrance and silky concentration of sweet strawberry fruit elegantly cloaked in American oak. Very enjoyable. Hedonistic Californian Pinot with lush strawberry, cranberry and cherry fruit balanced by soft, ripe tannins and crisp acidity. Smooth, chocolaty, spicy oak enriches but never dominates the fruit. 14.2%

Single Bottle: £21.95

In a case of 12: £20.85