2022 Lucia Susan's Hill Vineyard Syrah by The Pisoni Family | Santa Lucia Highlands Monterey County California 750ml

The Pisoni Family has made their mark on California viticulture with over three generations of farming world-class sites in the Santa Lucia Highlands. The Lucia Wines are made alongside the wines of the Pisoni Estate with the same commitment to excellence.

If there is a wine that exemplifies mountain-grown vineyards, it is the Susan's Hill Syrah. This block of grapevines is perched on a high ridgetop at Pisoni Vineyards. The 1,300-foot elevation, wind-swept conditions and rugged soil delivers a wine of intense and opaque purple color. The complex aroma is an assembly of muddled black berries, stony minerality and cracked pepper. Elegant notes of violets emit from the glass with additional swirling and air. The palate possesses staggering depth and power, in large part because the minimal yields of one-point-five tons per acre. Seventy-five percent whole cluster and native fermentation further capture this site and build complexity. To soften the tannins while maintaining the aromatic intensity, this wine is aged in large foudre for nearly two years before bottling. 120 cases produced. | Lucia

Reminding me of terrific Saint Joseph, the 2022 Syrah Susan's Hill is all varietal from a single block in the Pisoni Vineyard. It was fermented with 80% stems and spent 22 months in foudre. This deep purple-hued beauty offers a tight, inward, concentrated style as well as beautiful cassis and blue fruits, some classic bacon fat, violets, and gamey, peppery nuances, building tannins, and a beautiful mid-palate. It needs a solid 2-4 years of bottle age and will evolve gracefully through 2037. It's a gorgeous Syrah. | 94+ points, Jeb Dunnuck for jebdunnuck.com