Morgan’s Highland bottling for 2022 contains 46% estate fruit from the Double L Vineyard, (which gets its own bottling) and other Santa Lucia Highlands sites including McIntyre, Tondre’s Grapefield and Boekenoogen. This gives the team a chance to play around with different clones (ten are utilized here) and to offer a different stylistic take on Chardonnay. I love this for its brightness and moderate oak influence that adds notes of vanilla, soft toast and gentle spice to the layered lemon, mango, pear and apple fruit. It is long and refreshing — I’ll call it a warm weather drinker with wide pairing possibilities.
Morgan Winery, Santa Lucia Highlands (Monterey County, California) Chardonnay 2022
By Rich Cook