Press

2019 Vintage Reviews

2019 Clarice Wine Company Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir

“The finest wine I’ve ever tasted from Adam is the 2019 Pinot Noir Rosella’s Vineyard.” – Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points – Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points – James Suckling

94 Points – Wine Enthusiast

94 Points – Good Vitis

2019 Clarice Wine Company Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir

“Polished and spiced with a beautiful texture. Long and focused.” – James Suckling

96+ Points – Jeb Dunnuck

95 Points – James Suckling

95 Points – Good Vitis

2019 Clarice Wine Company Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir

“The balance and structure is impeccably built, this one should be set aside for at least three or four years and followed over the following five years, at least.” – Good Vitis

96 Points – Good Vitis

95 Points – Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points – Wine Enthusiast

93 Points – James Suckling

The first reviews to come out on the Clarice 2019 wines from a very thoughtful and beautiful writer, Aaron Menenberg at Good Vitis. Thank you Aaron for your time and kind words about my wines, “I can’t recommend Clarice enough for those who like serious pinot noir, and his side projects like Beau Marchais offer opportunities to try serious if experimental wines and winemaking approaches for those palates looking to expand themselves.” Read more here.

Wine writer Jeb Dunnuck tasted barrel samples of the 2018 Clarice Pinot Noirs and he loved them! Here’s what he wrote:

97-94 Points  2018 Clarice Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir

“…the 2018 Pinot Noir Garys’ Vineyard is the star in the lineup at this point, offering a rich, balanced, complete style as well as ample black fruits, ground herbs, and candied orange peel. I love its mid-palate, it has notable concentration, and a great, great finish. This cuvée saw just under 80% stems and will spend 11 months in 73% new French oak.”

95-93 Points  2018 Clarice Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir

“Not yet bottled and from a cool, long growing season, the 2018 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands reveals a purple/plum color as well as a meaty, savory bouquet of black cherries, bouquet garni, and leafy herbs. It’s rich, with a layered, seamless texture, ripe tannins, and a salivating minerality on the finish. It’s unquestionably in the same ballpark as the single vineyard releases.”

94+-92 Points  2018 Clarice Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir

“The 2018 Pinot Noir Rosella’s Vineyard offers more exotic notes as well as ample black cherries, candied orange rind, blueberries, violets, and damp forest floor. It has a structured, broad, foursquare feel, medium to full body, terrific balance, and plenty of length. It’s going to need 2-3 years of bottle age to fill in and should evolve beautifully.”

Aaron Menenberg says the Clarice’s Hot Streak Continues with the 2018 Pinot Noirs.

96 Points – 2018 Clarice Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir

95 Points – 2018 Clarice Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir

93 Points – 2018 Clarice Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir

Read about all of the wines here: https://goodvitis.com/the-streak-continues-clarices-2018-pinots-deliver/

Rusty Gaffney at PinotFile wrote extensively about Clarice Wine Company and reviewed both the 2017 Pinot Noirs and barrel samples of the 2018 Pinot Noirs. You can read the entire article here: http://www.princeofpinot.com/article/2188/

Here’s how he rated the wines:

97 Points  2018 Clarice Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir

95 Points  2018 Clarice Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir

94 Points  2018 Clarice Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir

96 Points  2017 Clarice Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir

94 Points  2017 Clarice Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir

94 Points  2017 Clarice Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir

Clarice 2018 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands  95+ The 2018 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands combines grapes from both Garys’ Vineyard and the Rosella Vineyard. Like the other two wines in the trio, it displays a lovely ruby hue and dark red berry fruit. The blend is primarily of fruit from the Rosella Vineyard which contributes to the wine’s silky and savory character. We find that the blend of grapes from the two vineyards gives slightly more richness, while reduced oak aging (37.5% new vs. 70+% for Garys’ and Rosella’s) contributes to the wine’s early drinking character.

Aaron Menenberg writes about Clarice and reviews the 2017 Pinot Noirs on his outstanding Good Vitis Website!

https://goodvitis.com/clarice-wine-company-the-next-evolution-in-how-we-wine/

“Clarice is the newest project from Adam Lee, winemaker for Siduri and consulting winemaker for many other projects in California. “I do things differently for Clarice, as this is completely my own label,” he says. “Clarice, my grandfather, would cook in a large pot. He would say, if you put in all the meat and seasonings at once it melts together, versus putting something in at the end and having it stand out. So I took different sections from Garys’ vineyard and Rosella’s vineyard that ripen a couple weeks apart. I sampled them together and vinified them together. You don’t have quite as much margin for error that way, but I’ve been working with these vineyards since 1999-2000, and if I haven’t learned something by now, I’m in trouble.”

95-93 Points 2018 Clarice Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir

95-93 Points 2018 Clarice Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir

94+-92 Points 2018 Clarice Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir

95 Points 2017 Clarice Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir

94 Points 2017 Clarice Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir

94 Points 2017 Clarice Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir

Fantastic New Reviews on the 2017 Clarice Pinot Noirs from Jeb Dunnuck:

96 Points – 2017 Clarice Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir:  “My favorite of the trio, the 2017 Pinot Noir Garys’ Vineyard is a bigger, richer effort that has plenty of muscle in its wild strawberry, black cherry, forest floor, underbrush, and crushed flower aromas and flavors. This beauty is medium to full-bodied, deep, layered, and gorgeously textured on the palate, with more rounded, supple tannins and terrific density. Drink it over the coming decade.”

95 Points – 2017 Clarice Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir:  “The 2017 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands comes from the Garys’ and Rosella’s Vineyard and saw plenty of stems and was brought up mostly in neutral barrels (36% new). It offers Côte de Nuit-like notes of blackberries, wild strawberries, rose petals, and forest floor. This smoking good effort has a tight, classic, Old World vibe, plenty of classic Santa Lucia Highlands fruit, terrific purity, and a great finish. You can safely drink this any time over the coming 10-15 years.”

95 Points – 2017 Clarice Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir:  “From a great site in the center of the Santa Lucia Highlands, the 2017 Pinot Noir Rosella’s Vineyard offers a slightly darker, more underbrush and forest floor style, yet has beautiful black raspberry and strawberry fruit, a touch of violets, medium body, sweet tannins, and beautiful balance. It’s another layered, elegant, gorgeous wine under this label.”

I am thrilled with the great new reviews from Josh Raynolds of Vinous on my new Clarice Pinot Noirs:

93-95 points 2017 Clarice Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir 
“Lurid ruby-red. Spice- and mineral-accented raspberry and cherry scents are complicated by cola vanilla and exotic floral nuances. Sweet and seamless on the palate offering densely packed red and dark berry and spicecake flavors along with suggestions of candied rose and blood orange. Concentrated but strikingly vibrant and precise as well delivering strong closing thrust harmonious tannins and superb floral-driven persistence.”

Mike Dunne, long-admired wine writer for the Sacramento Bee, wrote a great article on Clarice Wine Company for that newspaper. Here’s a link to that article: https://www.sacbee.com/food-drink/wine/dunne-on-wine/article220123535.html

“With a new wine company, a seasoned California winemaker is offering community, education, and outstanding Pinot Noirs.”

“Legacy is on Adam Lee’s mind as he looks to become a disruptor in the wine world.”

“Traditional winemaking, untraditional marketing. A delicious blend.”

“Clarice Family Program is an expansion of consumer involvement and education and a sensible step in that direction.”

“His sales plans…are particularly revolutionary.”

“So, if you share my interest in a wine club that has it all, except the attitude, look no further. The answer is a new winery named Clarice….”

I recently spent almost an hour with The Cork Dorks Radio Program talking about Clarice Wine Company and enjoying some barrel samples of the Pinot Noirs. I hope you take the time to listen to it and enjoy the show as much as I enjoyed recording it. Read More

“Clarice Family Program is not a mailing list; it is not a wine club; it is a completely new experience. Think of it as being part of Lee’s extended wine family.”

“He’s experimenting with lots of whole cluster for the first time, adding decisive mid-palate structure and length. Incredible power for such youth.”

“California winemaker Adam Lee’s next chapter is just beginning. And things are looking good.”