2022 J. Lohr Highlands Bench Pinot Noir
The 2022 Highlands Bench Pinot Noir begins with an aromatic core of black cherry and strawberry preserves followed by spicy elements of nutmeg, mocha, black pepper, and dried herbs. On the palate, bright raspberry flavors are wrapped in a creamy texture from our biweekly barrel stirring program.
— Brenden Wood, red winemaker
Wine Details
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Composition Blend
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100%
Pinot Noir
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Origin
Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey County, CA
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Cellaring
This wine has the structure to age 5 to 7 years, with the greatest fruit evolution early on.
7 Years -
Food Pairings
Delicious with oysters Rockefeller, beef carpaccio, roast chicken, or grilled lamb.
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Cellaring
Time in Barrel: Aged 8 months in French oak cooperage
Barrel Type: 228-liter French oak Burgundy barrels, 40% new
Vineyard
This J. Lohr Highlands Bench Pinot Noir comes from the Costa Vineyard, just west of the Soledad Mission in the famed Santa Lucia Highlands appellation of Monterey. We were invited to partner with the Costa family to establish a Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vineyard in 2008 on the family property. The close proximity to Monterey Bay, the eastern slope and aspect, and the elevation above the valley floor provide a cool, sunny, ideal environment for growing intensely flavored Burgundian varietals. We participated in soil evaluation, vineyard layout, and clone and rootstock selection, ultimately choosing the highest elevations and most gravelly soils for planting Pinot Noir.
Vintage
In 2022, the Santa Lucia Highlands experienced a relatively dry winter, cool spring, and summer temperatures in the 80’s - perfect conditions for Pinot Noir flavor and phenolic development. Nearly all of California experienced a heatwave in early September that pushed ripening for the vintage. Our Pinot Noir for this bottling was hand- harvested on September 9th in the early morning hours to retain nuanced fruit aromatics and balancing natural acidity. The fruit was cold-soaked and fermented in 12-ton open top fermenters, with 15% whole clusters to add spice elements to the finish. This vintage is a 70/30 blend of Dijon origin clones 667 and 777.
