2022 Tondré Grapefield Pinot Noir
Santa Lucia Highlands AVA
Tasting Notes
“Very dark color. Aromas of ripe cherry, raspberry, anise, coffee, coca, strawberry, and lemon zest flow into a concentrated flavor profile of similar notes. The texture is silky and seductive. This wine finishes with youth, bright qualities, and a smooth experience. Enjoy now through 2032.”
~Bill Brosseau, Director of Winemaking
July 2024
“Dark ruby in color, the 2022 Pinot Noir Tondré Grapefield is a dark, strapping young wine, but it’s also resonant and lifted. Blueberry, blackberry, dark cherry, mocha and stemmy herbs lead the charge, leaping onto the palate with a gut punch of fruit density. The Tondré is a little deceiving in its darkness and weight, as it actually delivers the goods in a lively fashion—I love those contrasts.” Billy Norris, Antonio Galloni’s Vinous, August 2024
“Cinnamon, spearmint and black tea flavors ride a nicely firm, lightly tannic texture backed by good acidity in this full-bodied, well-balanced wine. Red cherries, cranberries and star anise develop in the glass. Drink or hold.” JamesSuckling.com, August 2024
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: 13 years
Viticulture Practice: Sustainable (SIP Certified)
Vinification: Destemmed, fermented in Stainless steel
Cooperage & Ageing: 19 months in French oak, 68% new
Production: 28 barrels
Composition: 100% Pinot Noir (100% 777 Clone)
Acidity: 3.2 pH, 7.68 TA (g/L)
Alcohol: 14.2%
Harvest: September 8, 2022, hand harvested
Club Release: August 2024
Release Price: $79
Drink Now through 2032
Past Vintage Wine Scores
“The 2021 Pinot Noir Tondré Grapefield is gorgeous. Dark cherry/plum fruit, cloves, licorice, menthol, lavender and mocha convey dark, brooding intensity. That feeling is amplified by the wine’s substantial palate presence and overall textural breadth. The 2021 is beautifully rendered.”
Antonio Galloni
Vinous
November 2023
“Medium ruby-purple in color, the 2021 Tondre Grapefield Pinot Noir bursts with bold notions of juicy plums, black cherries, and mulberries giving way to hints of Indian spices and fallen leaves. The medium-bodied palate is lively and satiny, with bags of black berry and exotic spice flavors, finishing with a compelling lift.”
Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW
The Wine Independent
February 2024
“Bright ruby color, lovely cherry nose, sweet new oak, bright, crisp and juicy, fresh, long and absolutely stunning.”
Anthony Dias Blue
January 2022
“Light ruby-red. Bright and energetic on the nose, displaying fresh red fruit and floral scents and a spicy top note that builds with aeration. In a lively, penetrating style, offering appealingly sweet raspberry and cherry flavors and a touch of vanilla. A smoky nuance appears on the long, subtly tannic finish, which leaves sappy red fruit, mocha and allspice notes behind. 36% new French oak.”
Josh Raynolds
Antonio Galloni’s Vinous
May 2022
“Voluptuous nose of sweet dark red cherry interwoven with red raspberry. Dense and hedonistic, keenly concentrated palate with touches of earthiness and toasted oak on the finish. A bold, fruit driven Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands.”
Don Winkler
International Wine Review
December 2021
“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’s 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.