2019 Talley Vineyards Pinot Noir Estate Arroyo Grande Valley 750 ml

Pinot Noir is a grape of endless complexity—and to get the full measure of its nuance, you’re generally going to pay top dollar. That’s exactly why we’ve long been HUGE fans of Talley—because the pioneering Central Coast producer delivers some of the greatest Pinot Noir value in the country.

To wit: the 2019 Talley Estate Pinot Noir. Wine Enthusiast gave this Arroyo Grande overachiever Editors’ Choice honors, plus a 94-point score that put it alongside bottles that cost twice the price and more—ROAR $65 Garys’ Vineyard and Kosta Browne’s $100+ Santa Lucia Highlands bottlings among them.

Vinous once invoked one of California’s top Pinot regions when praising Talley, whose wines they said “match up very nicely with the best (of) the Sta. Rita Hills,” “matching those wines for perfume, silkiness and vibrancy of fruit.”

The Talleys are pioneers of Arroyo Grande, and they express their coastal terroir by relying completely on native yeasts. They bottle their wines unfined and unfiltered, delivering maximum color and the full aromatic spectrum provided by their spectacular vineyard sources. 

This bottling hails from the coveted Rincon and Rosemary’s Vineyards, from which Talley also makes $80+ single-vineyard wines. Rincon is home to two steep hillsides featuring shallow, calcareous soils that produce low yields and terrific aromatic sophistication. Rosemary’s Vineyard, similarly steep, is the coolest site in the whole Talley portfolio, giving forth Pinot Noir characterized by springy tension and structure.

For California Pinot Noir, it simply doesn’t get better at this price.