2021 Tondré Grapefield Pinot Noir
Santa Lucia Highlands AVA
Tasting Notes
“Very dark red color. Aromas of violet, anise, jasmine, boysenberry, and hazelnut make for a lively start to this wine. Once on the palate, these qualities stay true to form, along with the addition of notes of tangerine. Bright acidity and voluptuous tannins offer a nice contrasting mouthfeel while ending silky soft and fresh. Enjoy now through 2030.”
~Bill Brosseau, Director of Winemaking
November 2022
“Thick and heavy aromas of boysenberry paste, loamy soil and violet are rich but varietally correct on the nose of this bottling. That power carries into the sip, where sagebrush and boysenberry flavors attract and hold the attention with ripe elegance.”
Matt Kettmann
Wine Enthusiast
February/March 2023 Issue
Production Data
Growers: Alarid Family
Winemaker: Bill Brosseau
Appellation: Santa Lucia Highlands AVA
Elevation/Exposure: 400 feet; East/Northeast
Soil: Sandy, gravelly loam
Vineyard Age: 12 years
Viticulture Practice: Sustainable (SIP Certified)
Vinification: Destemmed, fermented in Stainless steel
Cooperage & Ageing: 11 months in 100% French Oak, 70% new
Production: 21 barrels
Composition: 100% Pinot Noir (100% 777 Clone)
Acidity: 3.18 pH, 8.1 TA (g/L)
Alcohol: 14.2%
Harvest: TBD
Club Release: December 2022
Release Price: $76
Drink Now through 2030
Past Vintage Wine Scores
“Bright ruby color, lovely cherry nose, sweet new oak, bright, crisp and juicy, fresh, long and absolutely stunning.”
Anthony Dias Blue
January 2022
“Building on the success of the 2017 version, Testarossa’s 2018 Tondre Grapefield Pinot Noir goes a step further in both depth and sheer winemaking polish and is a rich, neatly tailored wine that combines a wealth of sweet and slightly juicy fruit with lovely oak and touches of savory spice. It is weighty and finely balanced with a wonderfully long finish and the fruity potency to, without question, improve for a half-decade or more, and we would not be at all surprised if, with careful cellaring, it were to become more fascinating yet as it passes its tenth birthday.”
Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine
June 2021
“Light glistening red. Highly perfumed aromas of ripe red and blue fruits and candied flowers, along with building baking spice, vanilla and smoky mineral flourishes. Deeply concentrated yet energetic as well, offering palate-staining black raspberry, cherry liqueur, spicecake and floral pastille flavors that turn sweeter as the wine opens up. Delivers an appealing blend of power and finesse and closes very long and smooth, with supple tannins framing lingering red berry and cola notes.”
Josh Raynolds
Antonio Galloni Vinous
November 2019
“Lovely pale ruby color; juicy, silky and elegant; pure, tangy and long; a classic expression of the most nuanced attributes of this remarkable variety.”
Anthony Dias Blue
August 2018
“Medium to deep ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Pinot Noir Tondre Grapefield has a nose of baked cherries, warm plums and cranberry sauce with nuances of new leather, black soil and sautéed herbs. Medium to full-bodied, it delivers mouthfilling spicy and earth-laced fruit with velvety tannins and great length.”
Lisa Perotti-Brown
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
September 2017
“Cooked cranberry scents are enlivened by turned earth, dewy sage and a touch of wildfire smoke in this bottling from the Los Gatos-based winery. Baked red-cherry flavors meet with a savory pork-au-jus-like element on the palate, redolent with roasted thyme and oregano. A licorice element rises toward the finish. It’s mellow in intensity but with lots of depth.”
Wine Enthusiast
“Red cherry, root beer, a touch of sage and bay leaf and an shiitake-powered umami sensation decorate the nose on this wine from one of many single-vineyard expressions in this producer’s portfolio. The palate shows cooked cherries and cranberries that float across a Mediterranean elements of olive, fig balsamic and menthol.”
Wine Enthusiast
“Deep ruby color; tight, earthy aromas with some cherry and oak notes; deep, dense, complex stewed cherry flavors with some spice and oak notes; good structure and balance; long finish. Deep, dense Pinot that needs time in the glass to open up.”
Pinot Report
The Tondré Grapefield
Originally planted in 1997, the Tondré Grapefield is growing in popularity and recognition as well. Testarossa Winery has been making Tondré Grapefield Pinot Noir since 2012 and Chardonnay since 2014. Tondré is located directly in the center of the Santa Lucia Highlands just to the south of Soberanes and Garys’ Vineyards. Joe Alarid and his team hand-care for each vine where they have multiple clones planted within the 80 acres of Pinot Noir and 21 acres of Chardonnay.