2019 Tassajara Pinot Noir Monterey 750 ml

We’re usually quick to explain how we discovered an incredible value or negotiated an unbelievable deal, but the 2019 Tassajara Pinot Noir had us asking the questions. 

Well, one question: How in the world is this wine—one of just three 2019 Monterey Pinots to win Wine Enthusiast Editors’ Choice honors—not just under $30, but WELL UNDER $20?

Made from estate fruit grown in the fog-cooled Salinas Valley, it’s marvelously pure and fresh. That’s thanks to a unique quirk of Monterey Bay: A deep canyon on its floor propels frigid water to the surface, chilling the air, which is then pulled into the valley by rising temperatures. 

It’s like the ocean is touching these Monterey vines, elongating the growing season and imbuing the Pinot with elegant complexity. A sip of the 2019 Tassajara reveals opulent dark cherry adorned with fresh violets, lilacs, and bramble. Silky and seductive on the palate, it brings a Burgundian sensibility to its sun-kissed California fruit, finishing perfumed and long.

The story behind this wine? It’s as simple as the name Al Scheid.

Scheid’s a local legend who purchased his first property back in 1972, when Monterey winemaking was in its infancy. He basically had a head-start on finding exactly the right sites—the kind of parcels that catch the Pacific’s invigorating breezes and are also shielded by mountains. Today, grapes from those vineyards command top dollar from winemakers. 

But Scheid was there before the Monterey wine rush began, and so Tassajara—his project with his son Scott, daughter Heidi, and former Bien Nacido Vineyard manager Kurt Gollnick—is able to offer fantastic quality at a price few others can touch.