Discovering Santa Lucia Highlands

A Different Expression of Pinot Noir

For many years, Wente Family Vineyards has crafted Pinot Noir from Monterey County’s Arroyo Seco AVA, another world-class growing region known for its cooling influences and vibrant fruit. 

Santa Lucia Highlands offers a different expression. 

While Arroyo Seco often showcases bright fruit, freshness, and approachability, Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir tends to deliver even greater depth, structure, and concentration. The region’s persistent winds naturally thicken grape skins and extend hang time, creating wines with layered complexity, richer texture, and remarkable intensity without sacrificing balance. 

The beauty of Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir lies in this tension: richness and elegance existing together in the same glass. 

The Vineyard Behind the Wine

For this inaugural release, we sourced fruit from Paraiso Vineyard, one of the pioneering vineyard sites in Santa Lucia Highlands. 

Planted on the region’s elevated slopes and influenced by Monterey Bay’s cooling maritime conditions, Paraiso has helped establish the Santa Lucia Highlands’ reputation as one of California’s premier Pinot Noir regions. The vineyard is planted to Dijon clones 667 and 777, prized for producing wines with concentrated fruit, structure, and aromatic complexity. 

These vineyard blocks consistently deliver the balance we were seeking: vibrant fruit expression, natural acidity, and site-driven character.

Winemaking That Respects Place

The goal with this wine was never to make a “Wente-style” Pinot Noir. 

The goal was to allow Santa Lucia Highlands to speak for itself. 

The fruit was hand-harvested and gently handled from the vineyard to the winery. After sorting, the grapes underwent a cold soak before fermentation to enhance aromatic complexity and color extraction. Fermentation was conducted under carefully controlled temperatures to preserve freshness and purity, followed by 18 months of aging in François Frères and Damy French oak barrels. 

Every winemaking decision was designed to support the vineyard’s character rather than overshadow it.

Tasting Santa Lucia Highlands

The 2024 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir opens with aromas of ripe black cherry, red currant, and wild raspberry layered with notes of toasted brioche, baking spice, and subtle earthiness. 

On the palate, supple tannins and bright acidity create a wine that feels both generous and precise. The finish is long, polished, and distinctly coastal in character. 

It is a wine equally suited to a special-occasion dinner or a casual evening shared with friends—especially alongside cedar-plank salmon, mushroom dishes, pork tenderloin, or a simple thin-crust pizza fresh from the oven.