Adam Lee is one of California’s great winemakers. He has been making Pinot Noir for 25 years from Oregon to the Santa Rita Hills. A unique, newer winery project, Clarice Wine Company has now been focusing on world-class Pinots from the Santa Lucia Highlands over the past several years. Lee was first exposed to wine 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. Check out the world-class 2024 Clarice Wine Company ‘Rosella’s Vineyard’ Pinot Noir (OB, 96) which is a heady, stunning wine with loads of tension and salty nuance. Learn more about this outstanding wine project at https://claricewinecompany.com/ and here are my reviews of the new wines by Clarice and winemaker Adam Lee.
2024 Clarice Wine Company ‘Santa Lucia Highlands’ Pinot Noir- The 2024 ‘Santa Lucia Highlands’ was sourced from Rosella’s and Gary’s Vineyards, and comes off big, burly and broad-shouldered — seriously packing a punch at the entry level. This is loaded with dense dark fruits with black florals, tobacco leaf, salty soils and orange zest notes with stony undertones. Drink 2025-2035- 94
2024 Clarice Wine Company ‘Rosella’s Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- The amazing 2024 Clarice Wine Company ‘Rosella’s Vineyard’ Pinot Noir was sourced from this windswept 50 acre location right under the Santa Lucia Mountain Range. Dark and brooding in the glass, this offers cola and cranberry notes on the palate alongside heady Bing cherry and blackberry notes on the palate. Salty, savory and showing great concentration and verve, enjoy now and over the next fifteen years to come. Drink 2025-2040- 96
2024 Clarice Wine Company ‘Gary’s Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- The ‘Gary’s Vineyard’ is a older site that is planted to 30 year old Pinot Noir vines, named after owners Gary Franscioni and Gary Pisoni. On the nose this delivers purple rose petals with shades of marionberry, red currants, and salted Mandarin orange zest. The palate is powerful and concentrated, with great acidity and salty/stony nuances. A joy ton consume now, enjoy over the next fifteen years. Drink 2025-2040- 96