Morgan Winery

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” ($30), one from the acclaimed “Gary’s Vineyard” ($55), and from his own “Rosella’s Vineyard” ($55).

However, when the four wines are tasted side-by-side, the clear winner is this wine from Tondre Grapefield, a vineyard that has been used to great effect in the last few years by David Bruce and a handful of others.

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.

Reviewed May 16, 2007 by Dan Berger.