While not the most popular or widely planted (prolly Cab Sauv on both counts), Pinot Noir might be the consummate wine grape. The source material for some of the planet’s priciest and most elusive bottlings in red Burgundy, as well as a at least a few bricks in the discount pyramid at the  grocery store, it’s a varietal you’ll encounter almost everywhere because it does most everything - ride solo, pair with food, reflect terroir - well.  Except share the spotlight: aside from a few exceptions-that-prove-the-rule (Champagne, Passetoutgrain) Pinot Noir doesn’t really participate in blends. It is expensive and difficult to grow, and the same perfect pitch that allows it to render its environment so precisely means other grapes risk garbling the signal. Pinot needs space to preen, in other words, but that makes it a great partner for rosé, which lives by its lustre. A well made Rose of Pinot Noir, as the syntax insists, will first and foremost reflect its varietal point of origin; you’re guaranteed great color, vivid red fruit and tensile acid. But Pinot’s sense of place also prevents the local color from bleaching out entirely. To start this New Year and illustrate the point, we are staying local with a duo of Pinots from the Santa Lucia Highlands and Carneros, just two of the Golden State’s seemingly endless shades of pink.  

In a relatively short span of time the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA has achieved superstar status. Located about 150 miles south of San Francisco and about 50 southeast of Monterey, the region boasts 6,000 acres of vines ‑ primarily Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah ‑ planted on terraces below the Santa Lucia mountain range. The region’s climate is shaped by the morning fog and strong winds funneled daily down the Salinas Valley along with warm sunshine affording it one of the longest and coolest growing seasons in California. Steve McIntyre is a known viticulturist in Central California and have been making wines since 1973 and farms over 16,000 acres across Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties with a quarter of their vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA. McIntyre was among the first properties in the Santa Lucia Highlands to be SIP (Sustainability In Practice) Certified. Steve produces incredibly intense and complex Pinot Noirs and well-structured, concentrated Chardonnays in addition to this crowd-pleasing Pinot Noir Rosé. 

The Carneros AVA is located in the southern tip of the Napa valley next to Sonoma and is a well known for producing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (though it’s worth noting that it’s not the only region in Napa Valley to produce Pinot Noir and Chardonnay). Though long recognized for producing premium quality Pinot and Chardonnay, recent vintages have achieved global press recognition which has further skyrocketed its popularity and giving Sonoma County wines a run for its money. Bouchaine is the oldest continuously operating winery in Carneros with their focus on craft producing vibrant, exciting wines with influence of Burgundy, the exuberance of California and the terroir of Carneros. They make over 20 wines including Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Meunier, Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Chris Kajani is the winemaker and General Manager at Bouchaine, a big Burgundy enthusiast, she has built her winemaking career around crafting worthy California wines. After almost a decade working with Carneros Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as Saintsbury’s winemaker, she joined the Bouchaine family as head winemaker and general manager in 2015.

Think Pink,

Carrie Upson

General Manager