Samuel Louis Smith is the personal project of its namesake winemaker, formerly head winemaker at Morgan, who now works out of a shared garage in Salinas. He seeks out organically farmed, high-elevation vineyards scattered across California’s coastal mountains, from the Santa Lucia Highlands to the Gabilans, producing a small annual output across a handful of cuvées. His style favors restraint and clarity, letting each site’s character come through with minimal winemaking intervention.
This bottling comes from Michaud Vineyard in the Chalone AVA, planted in 1995 by former Chalone Vineyard winemaker Michael Michaud at roughly 1600 feet on decomposed granite. Chalone’s high desert setting brings blazing days and cold nights, a combination that builds savory complexity even at modest ripeness levels. About half the cluster went into fermentation whole, and the wine was bottled at a lower alcohol level, a first release for Smith from this site.
The 2023 shows dark cherry and cranberry fruit alongside garrigue, black tea, and gravelly mineral notes, with a floral lift running through the nose. The palate carries a dusty, chalky texture and firm structure built for the cellar, though it already drinks with real complexity. Pour it with herb-roasted chicken or a charcuterie board.
