Five Reasons to Fall in Love with the Santa Lucia Highlands

Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of the Santa Lucia Highlands. 

After all, my colleague Adam Lee calls this under-the-radar wine growing region the “finest wine region in California that no one knows about.”  WSJ wine writer Lettie Teague used the same joke with good reason.  In fact, her article dates back to 2017, and the quip remains salient in 2023.  (Is that a good thing?!).  That said, the SLH continues to garner excellent press, as noted in recent publications in Jancis Robinson and Vinous. 

It’s true.  Wines from the Santa Lucia Highlands are delicious, structured, balanced, and nuanced - really great stuff. But…

Let me apologize up front. 

SLH wines are delicious but rarer than sparkly, kaleidoscope-colored, rainbow pooping unicorns.  The wine growing region is teeny (just 12 miles long), and as a result, there is not much SLH wine available for purchase in the market. 

 In fact, Josh Raynolds wrote, “The increasing worldwide passion for fresh, low-octane, elegant Pinot Noir and Chardonnay plays to the Santa Lucia Highlands’ strong suit, which means that for the last several years it’s been a rare case where producers can satisfy year-round demand. On top of that, most if not all of the best and most sought-after wines are made in minute quantities, sometimes as little as a handful of barrels and often even less than that.” 

Right, a “handful” of barrels.  Come on now, Mr. Raynolds.  What’s a handful, actually?!!  Four barrels?  Five barrels?  Are you counting puncheons separately?  Yeah, OK, well…”handful” pretty much sums up the Soberanes Vineyard pinot noir production at Bruliam Wines.

So, what makes these wines so special? 

In a word: terroir. 

The SLH is a region defined by the wind, an intense, whistling, blows-the-hat-off-your-head kind of wind.  Everyday.  Relentlessly.  Like clockwork.  Interested in a relaxing vineyard picnic?  Think again.  You’ll be screaming to be heard above the howls.  Enjoy bocce ball?  Not without first hosing down the court lest a sand storm scrapes away your corneas.  So, while relentless wind is not so great for people, it’s terrific for wine grapes. 

wind whistling through SLH grapevines

The wind thickens the skins, allowing us winemakers to extract color and flavor more easily.  The wind keeps the grapes cools, maintaining the grape’s natural acidity, so the resultant wines are lively, balanced, and cellar worthy.  The wind dries out any residual moisture from Monterey Bay’s famous soupy fog, which prevents grape rot.  Lastly, the wind extends hang time, a fancy way of saying our grapes accumulate sugar more slowly over a longer period of time, promoting exceptional flavor development and texture.

join me behind the velvet rope

In a region “pretty much devoted to bottling premium and super-premium wines,” the Santa Lucia Highlands can feel like an insider’s mean girls clique.  But don’t fret! I have the inside scoop where you can taste these high-profile, low-production gems. 

While we often host industry professionals, the SLH wine growers are offering more tasting opportunities for wine lovers like you.

Riding in a macro bin parade!

Our most extensive consumer tasting event is the annual Sun, Wind, and Wine Festival, now entering its 15th year.  Most of the wineries in the SLH participate, pouring both current releases and library wines.  Live music, a wine auction, and fantastic food round out a perfect day of wine in Monterey County.  This wine event is truly delicious (goodness, the food is really, really stellar).  Best of all, the event is hosted by Mer Soleil winery, allowing guests to drink SLH wines in the same region where it’s farmed and vinified. 

If you join me on May 13, I promise you that the sweeping scenery of the Santa Lucia Highlands will steal your heart.  Personally, I think the best way to taste wine and understand terroir is to visit the region.  And to that I say, please do join me at Sun, Wind, and Wine this spring.

 What if you can’t join me in May? 

Let me bring the magic of SLH to you.  (Finally!)

photo credit Richard Green photography

Finally, I can reveal that the SLH winegrowers are supported by a specialty crop grant.  This unique program brings the SLH, a small, rural, ag-centric wine region, to your hometown.  Yes, it’s true.  SLH is going on the road.  The program will include both trade and consumer events, with a star studded lineup of wines and panelists from the vineyard to wine production. To date, our four city tour includes Denver, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.  Did you catch the tour name?  “Might Cool Pinot!”  Perfect right?  Now we just need band tour t shirts. 

Those dates don’t work either?  Join me at your convenience, in the tasting room.

While my tasting room is not in nestled among the winds and vines of the Santa Lucia Highlands, I am conveniently located off Highway 101, with ideal proximity to the Santa Rosa Airport.  (I believe that if you land at the Charles M Schultz Sonoma County airport and type “tasting room near me” into google, we pop up).  Tastings are private, intimate, chock full of facts and stories, and exclusively with me.

But I promised you 5 reasons to fall in love with SLH wines, so here you go:

Personality

SLH wines have a distinct sense of place, which makes these bottles extra special.  Wine writer Randy Caparoso jokes SLH wines have as much “air-oir” as “terroir,” meaning these wines evoke the salty Pacific ocean, the savory notes of California’s native flora, and the nuances of their microclimate.  In a word: delicious.

Ultra-Premium Wine Growing

The SLH is a region focused on wine growing.  It’s a skinny 12-mile strip dedicated to and devoted to wine grapes.  You won’t find any Michelin restaurants here.  No Starbucks.  No fussy microgreens plated alongside deconstructed abalone foam.  SLH is about wine growing, with occasional tasting rooms sprinkled in good measure.  Winemaking is farming. Great wine starts in the vineyard.  Great wines are borne of great grapes.  Santa Lucia Highlands wine grapes are farmed by the most dedicated farmers in the state. Hard stop.

Wine grower extraordinaire Mark Pisoni, Soberanes Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands

Textural Richness

A wine reviewer recently wrote that my 2019 Soberanes Vineyard pinot noir is “very impressive with a disarming, silky texture.”  “Disarming,” heh, heh, heh; I like that. In my own winemaker vernacular, I call Soberanes my “sext pinot.”  Want the pinot voted most likely to be uncorked on a wintry night before a roaring fire, when you and your loved one are romantically entwined on a fuzzy, bear skin rug?  This is the one, baby. 

Soberanes Vineyard- terroir reflected in your glass

Balance

Strong winds allow for slow, steady ripening with ample acidity.  Acid makes wine food wines, well, food wines.  Appropriate acidity allows for age worthy, cellar worthy wines with lift and structure.  Wine grapes grown in the SLH embody this ideal.

Now you know about Bruliam Wines AND the SLH!

You’re an insider now.  You’re in on the secret: the Santa Lucia Highlands is the finest wine growing region that nobody knows about - except you.