2023 Samuel Louis Smith - Pinot Noir Michaud Chalone Vineyard (750ml)
Samuel Louis Smith's 2023 Pinot Noir from Michaud Vineyard in the Chalone AVA embodies the winemaker's restrained, site-driven style. The project, born in a shared garage in Salinas, sources organically farmed, high-elevation vineyards across California's coastal mountains—from the Santa Lucia Highlands to the Gabilans—to craft a small annual slate of cuvées. This bottle marks Smith's first release from Michaud, a site planted in 1995 by Michael Michaud at roughly 1600 feet on decomposed granite. The high-desert setting delivers blazing days and cold nights, shaping savory complexity even at modest ripeness. Packaged in a 750ml bottle.
Winemaking is intentionally hands-off: about half the cluster went into fermentation whole, and the wine was bottled at a lower alcohol level to preserve the purity of fruit and the vineyard's character.
In the glass, it shows dark cherry and cranberry fruit layered with garrigue, black tea, and gravelly mineral notes, all braided by a floral lift on the nose. The palate delivers a dusty, chalky texture with a firm structure that suggests patience, yet the wine already reveals real complexity worthy of a modest cellar pause.
Tasting notes
- Aromatics: dark cherry, cranberry, lifted by floral perfume and wisps of garrigue
- Palate: chalky-dusty texture with taut structure; flavors echo the aroma—fruit-driven yet edged with mineral spine
- Finish: persistent, savory, with notes of black tea and mineral grace
Food pairing
- Herb-roasted chicken
- Charcuterie board