One of the famed producers of California Pinot Noir, Adam Lee has been making Pinot Noir for 25 years from Oregon to the Santa Rita Hills. A unique winery project, Clarice Wine Company has a membership of over 600 people. As part of their community members have the chance to interact with each other, sharing wine opinions and wine list guidance, as well as recommendations for wine travel, restaurants, hotels, events and more.
Adam Lee caught the wine bug while in Texas working in wine sales in the 1990s. Fast forward to 1994 he and his wife founded Siduri which became one of the state’s top producers of Pinot Noir. Their brand grew from 107 cases in 1994 to 25,000 cases in 2015 when they sold to Jackson Family Wines.
Clarice Wine Company is named after Lee’s grandmother who was his closest friend growing up. The wines are sourced from top sites in the Santa Lucia Highlands. I adored the new 2022 Clarice Wine Company ‘Rosella’s Vineyard’ Pinot Noir (OB, 95) which is rich and powerful with an incredible bouquet. Learn more about this exciting newer winery project at https://claricewinecompany.com/ and here are my reviews of the new wines by Clarice and winemaker Adam Lee.
2022 Clarice ‘Santa Lucia Highlands’ Pinot Noir- Mostly from the Rosella’s Vineyard, this beautiful Pinot Noir is inky dark once in the glass. The texture and level of freshness is outstanding with juicy wild blackberry and loganberry fruit flavors that combine with salty soils and orange zest accents. Finishing long with bright red fruits and copious minerals, this is already drinking beautifully. Enjoy this seriously good stuff now and over the next ten plus years. Drink 2023-2033- 94
2022 Clarice ‘Rosella’s Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- This stunning Pinot Noir bottling was stored in 50% new French oak and weighs in at 13.7% alcohol. Unfined and unfiltered, this has a wonderfully salty nose with tart red currants and tobacco leaf notes alongside kumquat zest accents. The palate is soft and refined with a smooth mouthfeel. Finishing very long with bright, lip-smacking acidity, this is wonderful stuff even in its heady youth — and can easily go for another twelve plus years. The salty character throughout the drinking experience literally screams terroir. Drink 2023-2035- 95
2022 Clarice ‘Gary’s Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- Like the 2022 ‘Rosella’s’ this comes off very deeply concentrated in the glass. The wine is soft and pillowy on the mouth, showing more of a stony than salty flavor profile. Boysenberry fruits combine with shades of Mandarin orange zest and cinnamon drenched pomegranate seed on the palate. Lithe and polished with a bright sense of underlying tension, enjoy this beautiful Pinot Noir now and over the next twelve plus years to come. Drink 2023-2035- 95
2022 Moret-Brealynn ‘Stray Dogs’ Pinot Noir- This beautiful 2022 bottling comes from two vineyards in the Sonoma Coast AVA. The wine saw 30% whole cluster fermentation and offers gobs of juicy pomegranate and guava fruits that collide with crushed seashells and suggestions of orange rind on the palate. This is already beautifully evolved. Drink 2023-2029- 92
2022 Moret-Brealynn ‘Russian River Valley’ Pinot Noir- The 2022 Moret-Brealynn ‘Russian River Valley’ Pinot Noir comes from the Lakeview and Sexton vineyards, as this was stored in 25% new French oak before bottling. Beautiful red rose petals combine with damp soils, cigar ash and shades of red cherry compote on the nose. The palate is soft and refined with a seamless texture. Juicy and ripe, brimming with heady red fruits, this is drinking beautifully right now. Drink 2023-2029- 92