2013 Pinot Noir

Although best known for his wide range of California Pinot Noir bottlings, Adam Lee also makes a healthy amount of Oregon wine. The style here, which emphasizes expressive, forward fruit and supple textures will be familiar to fans of Siduri's California wines but they tend have a bit more restraint. Lee's soon-to-be-bottled single site 2014s, from the Muirfield and Hawks View vineyards, look extremely promising, by the way, with abundant red fruit and floral qualities and plenty of enlivening acidity.

The breadth of Adam Lee's vineyard sourcing makes him a valued source of information on Pinot Noir from Oregon to Santa Barbara County, but he is clearly most passionate about the Santa Lucia Highlands, whose vineyards "really helped to put Siduri on the map," as he put it. Here's another producer who started his career making flamboyant, super-fruity wines and has slowly "evolved to wanting to put out wines that have fruit plus complexity, not just fruit for fruit's sake."

The breadth of Adam Lee's vineyard sourcing makes him a valued source of information on Pinot Noir from Oregon to Santa Barbara County, but he is clearly most passionate about the Santa Lucia Highlands, whose vineyards "really helped to put Siduri on the map," as he put it. Here's another producer who started his career making flamboyant, super-fruity wines and has slowly "evolved to wanting to put out wines that have fruit plus complexity, not just fruit for fruit's sake."

Adam and Dianna Lee announced they had sold Siduri and Novy Family Winery to Jackson Family Estates just as we were going to press, citing the pressure of running two labels both with broad lineups. Making wine seems romantic, but the business side of things can be much more daunting and is certainly not glamorous. Hopefully, the Lees will be able to concentrate on making wine now that they have the backing of the Jackson empire. As for these current and upcoming releases, they do illustrate some of the pressures that had been building up for a while. For starters, once again the Novy wines are of higher and more consistent quality than the Siduri wines. I am not sure why that is. One explanation is that at these bottle prices, it is easier to find higher quality Zinfandel than it is Pinot Noir. Then again, Pinot is notoriously fickle, and allows far less room for error in both the vineyard and winery. Whatever the reasons, the Novy range is packed with delicious wines, most of which also deliver tremendous value, while the Siduri range has more highs and lows. I am sure the Lees are looking forward to this next chapter of their lives as they continue to strive towards their long-held goal of making the perfect Pinot Noir.

Readers will find plenty to like in these new and upcoming releases from Siduri. On average, the 2012 Pinots from the Santa Lucia Highlands are more consistent than the 2012 Sonoma Pinots, as yields were held a bit more in check, which meant that the wines required less bleeding in the cellar. This year, I also noted significant differences between the southern and northern parts of the Santa Lucia Highlands. Warmer microclimates and generally poorer soils were assets in 2012, a year in which yields were very hard to control. Interestingly, yields were also high in 2013, but by then the vines are in the second year of a drought cycle and the wines generally possess greater depth and complexity. Siduri's Sta. Rita Hills Pinots will be reviewed in our upcoming article on Santa Barbara County.