10 of the Top Accolades for the Santa Lucia Highlands From Wine Media

Grand Cru California: How Critics Discovered the Santa Lucia Highlands

You've heard the names: Wine Spectator, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Vinous, Jeb Dunnuck. These publications and critics set the agenda for serious wine drinkers. And for more than two decades, they have been arriving at the same conclusion about one California wine region: the Santa Lucia Highlands belongs in a conversation with the best.

Here is what they have actually said, and why it matters if you're ready to explore this appellation.

1. Wine Spectator tracked California Pinot Noir vintages by region and Santa Lucia Highlands wines held their own against every major appellation

For over a decade, Wine Spectator published an annual vintage scorecard rating California's major Pinot Noir regions side by side. Across the full eleven-year run — 2007 through 2017 — the Santa Lucia Highlands wines were consistently at or near the top of the field, hitting 94 points in both 2009 and 2013. They no longer publish this regional scorecard, but the record stands: eleven consecutive vintages of outstanding to classic scores, benchmarked against every major Pinot Noir appellation in California.

2. A 1990 Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay earned Wine Spectator's rarest rating: 100 points

In a retrospective tasting, Wine Spectator awarded the 1990 Talbott Sleepy Hollow Vineyard Chardonnay a perfect 100 points, the highest score on the 100-point scale any publication uses. A Chardonnay. From Monterey County. Decades before most people knew the Santa Lucia Highlands and its wines existed. The same Sleepy Hollow Vineyard and Talbott's neighboring Double L Vineyard (owned by Morgan Winery) were later singled out by Wine Enthusiast as California's answer to Burgundy's Grand Cru sites — the highest designation used to describe a wine-growing location anywhere in the world.

3. Robert Parker called Pisoni Vineyards a Grand Cru site — and he wasn't the only one

Gary Pisoni established Pisoni Vineyards in 1982 on rocky, arid hillsides at 1400 feet elevation in the Santa Lucia Highlands. Robert Parker of The Wine Advocate called Gary "the rock star" of the Santa Lucia Highlands and named Pisoni Vineyards one of California's Grand Cru sites, a term Parker reserved for only a handful of vineyards in the entire state. Jeb Dunnuck of JebDunnuck.com echoed the designation, writing of "Grand Cru terroir in the Santa Lucia Highlands." Wine Spectator's MaryAnn Worobiec called the Pisoni family "one of the most important wine-growing families in the region." And Parker himself described ROAR Wines sourced from Pisoni Vineyard as reminding him of "a beautifully ripe top vintage of Grand Cru Corton" from Burgundy's Côte de Beaune, adding that these Pinot Noirs are "among the finest produced in California."

4. Soberanes Vineyard was named one of California's Greatest Chardonnay Vineyards by Wine Spectator

In its July 2023 issue, Wine Spectator published a feature on California's greatest Chardonnay vineyards. Soberanes Vineyard, a joint project of the Pisoni and Franscioni families, was among the sites selected. Wine Spectator's MaryAnn Worobiec credited them as "multigenerational farmers who have defined the fine wines that the region is capable of." About a dozen renowned California wineries produce vineyard-designated Santa Lucia Highlands wines from Soberanes Vineyard.

5. Clarice Wine Company's Adam Lee landed two wines on James Suckling's Top 100 American Wines of 2025

After selling his celebrated Siduri label, Adam Lee started Clarice Wine Company to showcase the Santa Lucia Highlands exclusively. He called The Highlands "the finest wine region in California that no one knows about." His 2023s made the case loudly: the Clarice Garys' Vineyard Pinot Noir earned 98 points from Vinous. Critic Billy Norris called it "one of the very finest Pinot Noirs I've ever encountered from the region" — and it landed at #12 on the Vinous Top 100 Wines of 2025. The Clarice Rosella's Vineyard earned 98 points from Tasting Panel Magazine and 96 from JebDunnuck.com. Two wines, both at 98 points, both from the same small California appellation most people have yet to discover. Adam has recently launched two more wine labels from the Santa Lucia Highlands.

6. Morgan Winery earned Winery of the Year from both Wine & Spirits and the San Francisco Chronicle

Founded in 1982 by Dan Morgan Lee — the first board president of the Santa Lucia Highlands Winegrowers Association — Morgan Winery has appeared on Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines list and earned "Winery of the Year" honors from Wine & Spirits magazine in 1996 and from the San Francisco Chronicle in 2003. Morgan's Double L Vineyard, purchased in 1996, is one of the best-known vineyards in California. The Wall Street Journal's Lettie Teague has written about Lucia Vineyards' wines from the SLH, noting that the Pisoni family "runs what may be the most famous vineyard in Santa Lucia Highlands."

7. Bibiana González Rave was named Winemaker of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle

Bibiana González Rave grew up in Colombia with no wine culture in her family. By 14, she had decided to become a winemaker. She trained at universities in Cognac and Bordeaux, worked at Château Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion in France, and eventually put down roots in California. In 2015, the San Francisco Chronicle named her Winemaker of the Year. Wine Enthusiast placed her on its inaugural "40 Under 40: America's Tastemakers" list. Her Cattleya wines draw from Santa Lucia Highlands vineyards and consistently earn high marks from the same critics who shaped this region's reputation.

8. SLH growers lead California in sustainability — and have the Green Medals to prove it

Santa Lucia Highlands wine quality and land stewardship are not separate values here. Pisoni Family Vineyards, Scheid Family Wines, and Jackson Family Wines are among the Santa Lucia Highlands producers recognized with California Green Medal awards from the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, the state's most rigorous independent sustainability recognition. Scheid earned the Environment Award. Pisoni earned the Business Award, recognized for holistic, inclusive sustainability practices that include a 1.5-acre insectary garden, water monitoring systems, and solar that offsets 240,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions annually. These are farming families who have been stewarding this land for generations — and the critics are rating the wines that land produces.

9. The Wall Street Journal called the Santa Lucia Highlands its favorite California appellation that no one knows about

That headline says more than any score can. The Wall Street Journal’s wine coverage has returned to the Santa Lucia Highlands repeatedly. Wine columnist Lettie Teague called Garys’ Vineyard "one of the most famous vineyards in California" and described the region as offering "refreshingly unpretentious producers, really good wines and incredible views." In a separate piece, she wrote that the Pisoni family "runs what may be the most famous vineyard in Santa Lucia Highlands." The San Francisco Chronicle’s Bryce Wiatrak put it another way entirely: "You may have to redefine what California Pinot Noir means when tasting from the Santa Lucia Highlands. But that’s also what makes these wines so exciting. They transcend the threshold of ripeness we imagine for Pinot Noir without sacrificing freshness."

10. Caraccioli Cellars has been named Best U.S. Sparkling Wine six times at the world’s most prestigious sparkling wine competition

Most people don’t associate the Santa Lucia Highlands with sparkling wine. Caraccioli Cellars is changing that. The family-run winery, farming its estate Escolle Vineyard in the SLH and making wines entirely in-house using méthode champenoise, has been awarded Best U.S. Sparkling Wine six times by the Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships (CSWWC) in London, the most respected sparkling wine competition in the world. In 2022, three of the four gold medals awarded to any U.S. producer in the entire competition went to Caraccioli. Vinous placed the 2019 Brut Cuvée on its Top 100 Wines of 2025. Critic Billy Norris cited the Escolle Vineyard as providing ‘the perfect natural framework to deliver wines of energy and texture.’ Decanter Magazine just awarded Caraccioli’s 2024 Syrah 98 points. “This is a beautiful bottle of Syrah that sings of Old World elegance but is undeniably a variety and style with a very bright future for the SLH.” The SLH is known as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay country. It turns out it’s also producing some of the finest bubbles and Syrah in America.

The Proof Is in the Glass

In 2013, Wine Enthusiast named Monterey County one of the top ten wine travel destinations in the world — the only California wine region on the list that year. Their editors described it as 'glamour without pretense.' That was more than a decade ago. The vineyards have only matured in time, the winemakers are even more accomplished, and the scores higher. The Santa Lucia Highlands wine region is one hour south of San Jose. Grand Cru vineyards. Perfect scores. Best-in-the-country sparkling wine. Winemakers of the year. And tasting rooms where the owners still pour. You’ve just read ten reasons why this region belongs on your radar. Now all that’s left is to open a bottle.

The critics have done the work. Now it's your turn.