I live and work in the industry in south Monterey county wine country for the summer, more specifically the Arroyo Seco and SLH AVAs. Some of the Chards and Pinots coming out of the SLH region are some of the best California style wines around (esp. Pinot) with their distinct aromatics and terroir driven palates. I've had previous experience with Morgan's wines at the local wine shop where I recently went to school, from their entry level offerings up through their single vineyard designated bottles. My previous experience is that their wine was solid and approachable. At the Carmel tasting room they were pouring through most of their current vintages. The tasting room is nice and offers up a relaxed setting. After going through most of their lineup I was most impressed with their Gary's vineyard Pinot Noir(they were not pouring their Rosella's Pinot Noir on that day to compare side by side) and their Cotes-du-Crow's Syrah/Grenache blend.
The 2010 Gary's Vineyard had that lush ripe red fruit SLH terroir driven expression mixed with those distinct rose petal perfumey floral aromatics, followed by spice box notes with earthy undertones on the palate, low acidity, nice oak integration, medium to full bodied with soft but firm tannins leading to a smooth finish. Due to its finesse and elegance and low acidity, it falls under that drink now Pinot. Price point is $50. Compared to other local producer offerings from Gary's and Rosella's I would give this Morgan's vintage 91 pts. The Twelve Clones Pinot has a little more of an acid backbone and is a better QPR priced at $32. The 2010 Cotes du Crow's has a better QPR, at $18 this blend of Grenache & Syrah has rich, dark concentrated fruit aromatics with jammy fruit from the Grenache and a spicy/beefiness from the Syrah driving the palate, making this medium bodied wine pleasant to drink. Like most of their wines the tannins are soft and velvety. The winemaker's notes compare it to blackberry pie. For the price point this wine is a great every day drinking California Rhone-style blend. 89 pts.
Overall the tasting room environment, although set in a relaxing decor, was too stuffy for me. I understand the clientele that lives around here or that comes through here, but I didn't feel that personal touch. Granted they were busy on this afternoon, but if you have been to a large amount of tasting rooms you know what I am talking about. I might give their Salinas winery tasting room a try the next time around. That being said, I walked out of there with a few bottles of Cotes-du-Crow's to enjoy that evening and a Gary's vineyard Pinot to do a side by side tasting with some of the other local SLH Gary's vineyard Pinots. read more