SOLEDAD — CRU Winery has announced that it received 95 points on their 2021 Sarmento Vineyard Clone 777 Pinot Noir from Wine Enthusiast Magazine.
This is the highest score CRU Winery has ever received from Wine Enthusiast Magazine and joins their extensive list of 90-94 point scores from the publication.
CRU Winery has crafted high-quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the Sarmento Vineyard for over 10 years, but the 2021 vintage is the first time they produced a Sarmento Vineyard Pinot Noir highlighting one specific clone.
Located just down the road from the CRU Winery Santa Lucia Highlands tasting room, the Sarmento Vineyard is owned and farmed by Valley Farm Management. CRU Winery and Valley Farm Management have a close business relationship with the winery sourcing all the fruit for their Santa Lucia Highlands and Monterey wines from their vineyards.
“I am very proud of our winemaking team for receiving this recognition from Wine Enthusiast Magazine,” said Nathan Stern, CEO of CRU Winery. “This score highlights our extremely high demands when choosing vineyard partners, the improvements in vineyard and winemaking practices we have implemented over the past four years to elevate quality and CRU winemaker Jose Reyes’ incredible talent, which shines through in this stunning wine.”
CRU Winery will celebrate the 95-point score with a reception at its Soledad tasting room on Friday, Feb. 16, from 4 to 7 p.m. Guests will taste the wine paired with artisan small bites and meet CRU’s winemaker Jose Reyes and Valley Farm Management CEO, and one of the pioneers of the Santa Lucia Highlands, Jason Smith.
The Sarmento Vineyard Clone 777 Pinot Noir reception is open to the public. Reservations are required and can be booked at cruwinery.com. Bottles of the Sarmento Vineyard Clone 777 Pinot Noir are extremely limited and can be purchased online or in the CRU Winery tasting rooms.
