The Story
Escolle sits on the benchland terraces of the Santa Lucia Highlands, above the Salinas Valley floor, where decomposed-granite soils and ferocious afternoon wind produce a darker, more muscular style of Pinot Noir than the cool coastal sites further south. Where the Sta. Rita Hills gives red-fruited perfume, the SLH tends to push toward black cherry and depth — and Whitcraft lets that difference speak. Drake Whitcraft, running the winery his late father Chris founded, interprets the fruit with a deliberately minimal hand: native yeasts, whole-cluster fermentation, no new oak, minimal sulfur, and no fining or filtration. It's the natural, honest Whitcraft signature applied to one of Monterey County's most powerful Pinot sites. A great way to taste what changes when you move the same winemaker up the coast.
Description
Escolle sits on the benchland terraces of the Santa Lucia Highlands, above the Salinas Valley floor, where decomposed-granite soils and ferocious afternoon wind produce a darker, more muscular style of Pinot Noir than the cool coastal sites further south. Where the Sta. Rita Hills gives red-fruited perfume, the SLH tends to push toward black cherry and depth — and Whitcraft lets that difference speak. Drake Whitcraft, running the winery his late father Chris founded, interprets the fruit with a deliberately minimal hand: native yeasts, whole-cluster fermentation, no new oak, minimal sulfur, and no fining or filtration. It's the natural, honest Whitcraft signature applied to one of Monterey County's most powerful Pinot sites. A great way to taste what changes when you move the same winemaker up the coast.
