By Steve Hicks
Wine Enthusiast Magazine selected Pisoni Vineyards & Winery as one of the five best Pinot Noir growing sites in America. Wine & Spirits magazine chose it as one of the top 10 greatest international fruit vineyards. You get the idea this is one terrific place to grow grapes. The vineyard is located between Soledad and Gonzales, about seven miles west of Highway 101 in the Santa Lucia Highland appellation.
Our wine-tasting group has an outing at Pisoni every other year, and it is always eagerly anticipated. The vineyards are nestled in the foothills at a 1,400-foot elevation. The soil is granite and the rootstock is not grafted - therefore not resistant to phyloxera - but it doesn’t seem to be a problem, as the original 1982 plantings remain healthy and vigorous.
My first visit began in Gary Pisoni’s cellar below his farmhouse. There are hundreds of empty old Bordeaux bottles on display. Gary told us that he drank a half-million dollars worth of Bordeaux before he figured out he liked Pinot Noir better.
I noticed a man sitting in the corner, and I introduced myself. He replied that he was Frank Souchak. I said, “You couldn’t be Souchak the golfer who won all those tournaments in the ’50s - he died.” He replied, “I am not dead!” That was six years ago, and he is still quite healthy and I am still somewhat chagrined!
The original Pisoni planting covered 5 acres; now there are 45. Gary is the king of low yield. He probably drops more fruit off the vine than any other Pinot acreage. The result is intense fruit that wineries clamor for. His price per ton is a whopping $15,000, and if the wines produced do not meet his standards, no more grapes for the vintner.
He bottles approximately 650 cases under his own Pisoni label. His sister label, Lucia, is run by sons Jeff and Mark. The wines are highly acclaimed and difficult to obtain. The boys are involved in both operations - Mark as vineyard manager and Jeff as winemaker.
Eddie and Jane Pisoni, the first generation, have been farming an adjacent 1,000 acres in vegetables for 60 years. Jane says they grow a lot of different crops, because then at least one will be successful every year.
Gary has built a hacienda-style veranda next to a spring that supplies water to a reservoir used for irrigation. On party days, it is also a fun swimming hole.
The first barbecue I attended, we were treated to pans of fried abalone, homegrown asparagus and grandma’s homemade pies. This time it was chicken, risotto and, of course, asparagus and pies - and all the magnums of Pisoni and Lucia you could drink.
The meal was served in a cave dug into the side of a hill. This is a unique cave; there is no wine in it, only two beds, tables and a car. Bottles of Advil and Tums and a carton of yogurt on one of the tables gave a clue to the activities in the cave.
Gary is one of wine’s really smart guys and also one of its biggest characters. He has shoulder-length curly locks and a great passion for what he does; he never stops talking and is very funny. He is also extremely serious about his vineyard. He has been to every great Pinot-growing region from Tasmania to Burgundy and always learns something wherever he goes.
The thrill of the visit is a ride through the vineyard in his 1969 Willys Jeep, an experience akin to an “E” ticket ride at Disneyland - no top, windshield or seatbelts, only a small rollbar just in case. He guns the engine and away you go, over hill and dale at a rapid pace. You soon get the feeling Gary is on a first-name basis with every grape cluster in the vineyard. His animated patter never stops, and, once you realize you might not die, you can appreciate his humor and absorb the genius of the man.
Steve Hicks is a wine adviser, consultant and partner in a winery. You can e-mail him at shicksvine@aol.com.
