91, California Grapevine, March 2008

Medium-light golden yellow color; attractive, lemony, pineapple and tropical fruit aromas with overtones of vanilla; full body; rich, forward, plush, spicy, lemony, ripe tropical fruit flavors with a touch of butterscotch and a pleasing, creamy mouthfeel; well balanced and structured, lingering aftertaste.  Should improve with another year or two of aging

Gold Medal, Green Wine Competition, May 2008

 

 

Morgan Winery Wins Green at Wine Competition

 

 

Morgan's organically grown Double L Vineyard wins big at the International Green Wine Competition. The 2006 Double L Vineyard Chardonnay received a Gold medal while the 2006 Double L Vineyard Pinot Noir earned a Bronze.

"There are three colors of wine now; red, white and green," said Dan Lee, winegrower for Morgan Winery. "Our Double L Vineyard has been farmed organically for over 10 years and is the only organic vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands."

Lee adds, "We have an extraordinary site and I feel that organic farming lets a clear voice of the vineyard's natural elements sing loudly in the wine. It is exciting to see what a great site and grower can achieve, if both are encouraged to ultimate quality."

The International Green Wine Competition is the first and only competition devoted to recognizing outstanding wines made from certified organic and biodynamically-grown grapes. The competition helps green-minded consumers choose "which organic wines do I buy?"

Donna and Dan Lee started Morgan Winery 26 years ago and have meticulously managed to produce consistent and high quality wines with careful attention heeded in every step. They opened their visitor center, Taste Morgan, last summer and can be seen driving around in their "green" Smart car, which happens to be painted orange.

 

 For full results go to: International Green Wine Competition

 

 

Excellent, Koeppel on Wine, February 2008

Morgan's Double L Chardonnay 2006, from the only certified organic vineyard in Santa Lucia Highlands, is as deep, as rich and as luscious as you might expect a California chardonnay that went through barrel-fermentation, 11 months in barrel and 60 percent malolactic to be. The wonder of the thing is that it possesses such sleek balance and integration, that its chiming acid and incredible minerality provide exhilarating vibrancy and resonance. The bouquet offers roasted lemon, lemon curd and lime peel with touches of pineapple and candied grapefruit. Oak is present but in the form of smoky, spicy framing and foundation rather than a dominating principle. A few minutes in the glass bring up the floral aspects - jasmine, honeysuckle, face powder - and indeed the texture of the wine is a lovely combination of talc-like softness and vivid acidity. This is a great chardonnay, star-lit and golden, and it should drink beautifully, well-stored, through 2011 or '12.

91, Connoisseurs' Guide, May 2008

Differing only slightly from Morgan's "Hat Trick" bottling from the same vineyard due to its very firm structure, this toasty, oak infused wine impresses as being fairly tight and tensile just now. Nonetheless, it conveys a good sense of stuffing and already hints at complexity to come, and, while it may be a bit backward at the moment, it promises to unfold over the next two or three years and, like Morgan's Hat Trick, deserves a quiet place in the cellar.

93, Wine Enthusiast, June 2008

This is a very dense, layered wine, with many intricate corners to explore. The winemaker has put on lots of lees and quite a bit of new oak, which of course adds creamy, smoky complexities. Fortunately, the underlying wine can handle it. Pure Santa Lucia Chardonnay, it's intricate in tangerines, limes, pineapples, honeysuckle and Asian spices, with a flinty minerality. Acidity is quite high.

87, Wine Spectator, June 2008

 

Morgan 2006 Double L Chardonnay offers a mix of tangy pineapple and melon fruit, with a hint of tangerine and light oak. Drink now.

Two and a half Stars, San Francisco Chronicle, August 2008

Morgan Winery's organically farmed vineyard is named for owners Dan and Donna Lee's twin daughters. An elegant, complex nose of wet stone, pear, baked bread, spice and sweetly toasted oak. Layers of flavor - melon, lime pith, caramel - plus a leesy dimension and mineral-tinged core; bright, long nuanced finish with some verve. Aged 10 months sur lies after fermentation in Burgundy barrels, 30 percent of which were new.

90, Wine & Spirits Magazine, October 2008

A huge style of chardonnay grown in sandy loam soils with traces of granite and limestone, this offers rich apple and pear flavors and a hint of chalky minerality. It finishes firm, with acidity to match grilled halibut.

Gold Medal Winner, Appellation America: Best-of-Appellation, August 2008

Chosen for proximity to labor sources necessary for this hand-crafted winemaking approach, this cool site near the upper end of the Valley but elevated above the fog and wind on sandy gravel produces some of the most distinctive SLH wines. Beginning with the rum and orange peel aromas one finds here and nowhere else, there is also lemon oil and hibiscus together with ample, well integrated oak. The mouth is fragile and hollow, with a trace of heat, finishing gracefully with refreshing acidity.

www.appellationamerica.com

 

 

 

Outstanding Chardonnay, The Wine News Magazine; Steve Pitcher (December 2008/January 2009)

Morgan, 2006 Chardonnay
Double L Vnyd, Santa Lucia Highlands, $44