Pisoni is one of the founding estates of the Santa Lucia Highlands — Gary Pisoni stuck Pinot Noir vines in this windy, sun-drenched bench above the Salinas Valley back in 1982, when the AVA didn't even exist yet. Today the family sells fruit to a who's who of California Pinot (Kosta Browne, Roar, and many more), but their own estate bottling is the benchmark expression. Mark Pisoni runs the vineyards; brother Jeff makes the wine, working in small lots with native yeasts. This is the family's home block — the source that started it all — and it shows the full Pisoni signature: dark, intense, spicy, and unmistakably Santa Lucia Highlands.