It has now been several years since I’ve had the chance to visit the Santa Lucia Highlands. Windswept and massively influenced by the Pacific Ocean, this is a gorgeous spot for wine lovers to visit. Morgan is one of the long-standing producers in the region. It is hard to believe that the brand started in 1982 by Dan Lee who studied at UC Davis and saw the potential of this region to craft cool climate California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Dan has received incredible accolades since the inception of his winery, including being San Francisco Chronicle winemaker of the year in 2003. Today the Lee family are now in their second generation, leading the winery. I was very impressed with the new release wines that I tried. Look to the 2018 Morgan ‘Double L’ Chardonnay (OB, 92) which is a silky, gorgeous effort with gobs of ripe fruits and really good range. I really enjoyed the juicy 2018 Morgan ‘Twelve Clones’ Pinot Noir (OB, 90) which is great to enjoy right now and will cellar well over the next eight plus years. Learn more about this outstanding producer at https://www.morganwinery.com/ and here are my new reviews of the Morgan wines.
2019 Morgan Albarino- This shows juicy kiwi and melon fruits alongside a good veil of tension. Enjoy in its youth while the freshness remains. Drink 2021-2024- 88
2019 Morgan ‘Metallico’ Chardonnay- Aged in stainless steel, this shows banana and baked apple tones alongside good freshness and stony minerals. The sense of weight and minerality here works great. Enjoy in its youth. Drink 2021-2024- 89
2018 Morgan ‘Double L Vineyard’ Chardonnay- The ‘Double L Vineyard’ is located in near the northern edge of the Santa Lucia Highlands and is known for the marine influence with massive fog cover both day and night, originally planted back in 1997. Aged in 30% new French oak, this shows off butterscotch and Pazzaz apple on the bouquet alongside nutty and wet earthy tones. The palate is soft and silky with good freshness. Lemon oil and Challah bread tones combine with ripe mango and minerals on the palate. This is seriously good stuff to enjoy in its youth as the beautiful 2018 ‘Double L Vineyard’ Chardonnay will cellar well over the next eight years. Drink 2021-2029- 92
2018 Morgan ‘Highland’ Chardonnay- The 2018 ‘Highland’ Chardonnay shows lovely peat moss tones alongside green apple and bakings spices that all take shape in the glass. The palate is fresh and vibrant with wonderful tension and length. Vibrant, with good stuffing to back it up, this beautiful wine will cellar well over the next five to seven years. Drink 2021-2026- 91
2019 Morgan ‘McIntyre Vineyard’ Chardonnay- The 2019 Morgan ‘McIntyre Vineyard’ Chardonnay is an outstanding new and vibrant bottling that has a long road ahead of it. Once on the nose this takes on buttercream with sourdough bread and papaya tones that are all woven together in the glass. The light dusting of salinity is really nice here, as is the gratifying length and bright veil of tension. This finishes very long. Drink 2021-2028- 91
2018 Morgan ‘Twelve Clones’ Pinot Noir- The 2018 ‘Twelve Clones’ shows good freshness with medium-bodied pomegranate seed, guava and red cherry candy flavors with earthy undertones on the palate. Showing good length and persistence, this juicy new Pinot Noir will be best enjoyed over the next five to seven years. Drink 2021-2026- 90