In 2017, Adam Lee introduced his “heartfelt project” - the Clarice Wine Company. He was focused on crafting small quantities of Pinot Noir from renowned Rosella’s and Gary's Vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands. This new endeavor was named after his grandmother, Clarice Phears, who was also one of Adam’s closest friends growing up in the 1960’s. In addition to their fun times spent together, she taught Adam about cooking and winemaking.

Adam began his winemaking career with Dianna Novy in 1994 when he founded Siduri wines. Their first release was a modest production of 107 cases of Pinot Noir, which received 90 points from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. The production grew to 25,000 cases by 2015 and was sold to the Jackson Family Wines in that year.

The 2023 Clarice Garys' Vineyard Pinot Noir is sourced from two acres of grapes for the Garys' Vineyard with 90% aged in new French Oak barrels. This wine is a striking testament to both the storied Gary’s Vineyard and the innovative, detail-driven approach of Adam Lee and Clarice Wine Company. In the glass the wine has a deep ruby hue with shimmering garnet reflections, foreshadowing its intensity and elegance. The bouquet reveals deep floral accents of dried rose petals and gardenia. Within the core are vibrant elements of ripened Morello cherries and crushed black raspberries intermixed with star anise, cinnamon-dusted cocoa, and a whisper of graphite-like minerality. There is a delicious purity and a creamy texture to this wine that always keep your attention as the finish lasts for minutes.

We had an opportunity to compare the current vintage of Clarice wines to older vintages, 2018 and 2019. These older vintages easily maintained their freshness and purity with age and developed additional secondary characteristics. In fact, they showed a very slow evolution of their seamless personality.

By W Peter Hoyne