We are fortunate enough to be on the radar for most of the major wine publications these days, many of whom visit once-a-year to taste with us. Wine Advocate is one of them, and Matthew Luczy visited this year during harvest. I took the time out on a chaotic day to sit with him and share my recent vintages with him. Wine Advocate, now part of the Michelin Guide, only reviews select wines from any given area, and it’s always enjoyable for me to see how my wines stack up against the best in the world when sitting with people like Matthew, whose job it is to taste the best of the best from everywhere he visits. I find many critics to be engaging people, and people I can learn from, since their knowledge of what’s happening out there in the wine world is so vast. While I prefer to wait and show the wines after they’ve bottle aged for awhile, you can’t decide when the writers visit, so Matthew tasted the 2025s right after they were bottled. Matthew is more of an old-school-type critic, which I like, who doesn’t dole out extremely high scores very often. For example, wines he scored 93 last year– having tasted them right after bottling like this year– ended up getting 96s and 97s from some other critics 6-9 months later. His reviews and his feedback are always honest and to-the-point.
Here’s what he had to say overall, with the reviews following:
Winemaker John Benedetti showcases a wide range of Santa Cruz Mountains wines under his Sante Arcangeli label, from the Lester and Saveria Vineyards in Corralitos to Coast Grade on Ben Lomond Mountain, using only vineyard sources that eschew the use of herbicides. His portfolio focuses on Pinot Noir, all of which show a lacy, deft touch, though his Split Rail bottling deserves particular emphasis and has become something of a signature wine. Planted in the late 1980s on a 1,700-foot ridge above Corralitos, fruit from this unique and remote site was sold to larger producers before the owners entrusted it exclusively to Benedetti, who has now worked with it for 17 vintages. Its position above the fog line reduces the mild pressure that can hamper this section of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and its surroundings of conifers and madrones impart a clear aromatic signature.
In the cellar, Benedetti is pragmatic rather than dogmatic, though certain tendencies help maintain consistency across the lineup. He typically begins with native fermentation before selectively introducing cultured strains such as Assmannshausen and BRG, lending the wines a red-fruited, spice-driven character rendered with technical clarity that avoids feeling sterile. Whole-cluster retention is typically capped at 20% and reserved for certain clones and sites. Cooperage choices center on Damy, supplemented by barrels from Louis Latour. His work with Chardonnay is increasingly impressive, again focusing on the Split Rail site, whose Chardonnay is vinified in a concrete egg alongside a portion of new barrels. In contrast, the 2024 Lester Chardonnay marks Benedetti’s foray into letting barrel-maturation run a full 18 months, an approach he is continuing with 2025, and I certainly applaud the result.
2024 Ananda Pinot Noir
Rating: 94+ | Release Price:$69 | Drink Date:2027 – 2036
Produced in a unique fashion whereby skins and stems from rosé production are added to a single ton of fruit from Split Rail Vineyard in order to slow and extend maceration, the 2024 Pinot Noir Ananda is among the darker, more brooding and more impressive wines of the Santa Arcangeli roster this year. It exudes elevated density, depth and saturation throughout, endowing the house’s pretty, spice-driven style with considerable gravitas and staying power as it closes with a taut, mineral-inflected finish.
2024 Lester Family Vineyard Pinot Noir
Rating: 94 | Release Price: $60 | Drink Date:2027 – 2034
Produced from a mix of Dijon clones and heritage plant material, the 2024 Pinot Noir Lester Family Vineyard is the most muscular and commanding of these Pinot Noirs from Santa Arcangeli. A dark, savory and spicy nose introduces a beautifully textured mouthfeel that combines taut focus, silky lift and a general sense of effortlessness, flowing into an intense and layered finish that lingers with additional spice-driven flavors and a floral touch.
2024 Lester Family Vineyard Chardonnay
Rating: 94 | Release Price:$45 | Drink Date: 2027 – 2036
The 2024 Chardonnay Lester Vineyard underwent an 18-month élevage in barrel, marking winemaker John Benedetti’s first experimentation with maturing a vineyard-designated Chardonnay for two winters. The results are hard to argue with and make for a lovely example of the vibrant, spice-driven style of Chardonnay the region naturally produces, albeit presented with well-tailored generosity. Tropical citrus, fennel and marshmallow aromas are followed by a dense and concentrated yet buoyant mouthfeel and a long, layered finish that balances tension and richness.
Reviews of the upcoming 2025 vintage (to be released later this year and early next)
2025 Coast Grade Vineyard Pinot Noir
Rating: 95 | Release Price:$60 | Drink Date: 2027 – 2038
Where the Split Rail bottling from Sante Arcangeli foregrounds the region’s coniferous profile, the 2025 Pinot Noir Coast Grade Vineyard clearly underscores its marine side. A beautiful, crystalline nose of red fruit, oyster shells, struck flint and orange rinds gives way to a silky, succulent, ethereal mouthfeel that flows into a soaring, oceanic finish propelled by racy acidity and extremely fine-grained tannins. It’s a beautiful expression of a meticulously well-farmed vineyard that should evolve well into its second decade.
2025 Split Rail Vineyard Pinot Noir
Rating: 95 | Release Price: $60 | Drink Date: 2027 – 2037
Alongside its Coast Grade counterpart, the 2025 Pinot Noir Split Rail Vineyard is a highlight of Sante Arcangeli’s wines. Always one of the more aromatically distinctive wines in the range, it wafts from the glass with a gorgeous bouquet of redwood duff, pine sap, dried flowers and sandalwood, followed by a broad, silken mouthfeel that is both enveloping and remarkably weightless. It closes with the spice-driven profile that attends most of John Benedetti’s work, threaded with saline lift, refined tannins and a persistent, measured spine of acidity.
2025 Split Rail Vineyard Chardonnay
Rating:93+ | Release Price:$50 | Drink Date: 2026 – 2036
A radically more taut and linear wine than its counterpart from Lester Vineyard, the 2025 Chardonnay Split Rail Vineyard was vinified in a mix of concrete eggs and barrels, both neutral and new. It captures the region’s unique forest-meets-marine character while balancing levity and mouth-filling texture in a slender, focused package. Markedly more structured and firm than wines from Corralitos, I suspect it will continue to bloom in bottle and should age very well for at least a decade.
2025 Saveria Vineyard Pinot Noir
Rating: 93 | Release Price: $60 | Drink Date: 2027 – 2035
Produced from an array of Dijon clones, the 2025 Pinot Noir Saveria Vineyard occupies a slightly more sumptuous profile of the Santa Arcangeli Pinot Noirs, owing in part to an additional focus on lees contact during élevage relative to its stablemates. Dark, perfumed and spice-laden on the nose, the palate follows with a rich, even decadent mouthfeel that remains quite classy as it transitions to a long, flavorful finish.
2025 Integrato Pinot Noir
Rating: 92 | Release Price: $50 | Drink Date:2026 – 2032
The 2025 Pinot Noir Integrato offers a strong overview of the Santa Cruz Mountains, drawn from a diverse trio of vineyards: Coast Grade, Split Rail and Saveria. It aptly combines the savory, forest-driven aromatic profile of Split Rail with the more marine-driven character of Coast Grade, followed by a supple, concentrated mouthfeel that stays light on its feet through a mouthwatering finish.
