2018 Santa Lucia Highlands: What a Difference a Year Makes

BY JOSH RAYNOLDS | OCTOBER 29, 2020

The Santa Lucia Highlands’ picture-perfect growing season of 2018 stands in sharp contrast to the heat-influenced 2017 vintage, where growers were forced to make numerous vineyard decisions to compensate for potentially high sugars and plunging acidity levels. Budbreak began in the third week of March, so on a “classic” schedule, and the region enjoyed a cool spring, with slightly less than normal but adequate rainfall. The fruit set perfectly according to all reports, while the summer months brought typical warm days and cool nights, which kept the vines’ maturation process on a smooth, steady curve. There were no heat issues, thus no risk of sugars rising ahead of pace and, even better, fall was quite cool, which took pressure off of growers who weren’t forced to make last-minute decisions under hot conditions, which has often been the case in recent vintages across California and, in fact the entire west coast.

Thanks to the clement summer and ideal fall weather, harvest was able to commence at the farmer’s leisure, with most vineyards picked between the third week of September and the second week of October. The unhurried pace of harvest ensured time for careful thought in the vines and at the sorting table (not that there were really any unhealthy grapes to throw away in the first place). The fruit that went into the crusher was impeccably clean and perfectly ripe, according to the winemakers’ standards.

The end result, which is what matters the most, is wines of distinct energy and fine definition, with expressive fruit, well-integrated tannins for the red wines and relatively uncommon nerviness for the whites.

Make no mistake, the 2018s are loaded with fruit, but the flavors are fresh, mostly suggesting a red and blue style for the Pinot Noirs and citrus to orchard fruits for the Chardonnays. The 2018s have power, too, which is typical for this region, but that power is mitigated by juicy acidity, which makes most of the wines very approachable already. Their balance, though, suggests the 2018s will be ideal cellar candidates. I wonder if some of my drinking windows are on the conservative side. Better safe than sorry is always a good rule to follow.