2016 Black Kite Cellars Pinot Noir Soberanes Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands

Black Kite has long been one of our favorite Pinot Noir producers. We’ve anticipated every one of their tiny-production releases, and this 2016 Soberanes Vineyard Pinot is one of their silkiest and most complex bottles yet.

That’s the kind of quality you get from the Soberanes Vineyard, a Santa Lucia Highlands site that ranks among the best Pinot Noir sites in California. Called “one of the appellation’s most esteemed properties” by Wine Enthusiast and “top-notch” by Jeb Dunnuck, it’s a foggy, ocean-cooled Eden for Pinot Noir.

Wine Enthusiast put Black Kite on their list of “America’s Best Pinot Noirs.” Wine Access members, who cleaned out our last two offers in rapid fashion, have called Black Kite Pinots “competitive with wines costing 2 to 3 times” as much—one deemed them “one of the best Pinots from California.” The critics love it just as much: Jeb Dunnuck called it “sexy,” and a “total charmer,” while Vinous praised its “impressive depth.” 

The Soberanes Vineyard is farmed by the legendary Franscioni and Pisoni families, who have been credited with the success of Pinot Noir in the Santa Lucia Highlands. The site’s cooling fog keeps acidity bright and allows the Pinot to ripen slowly, and the granite-rich soil promotes deep root growth.

Winemaker Jeff Gaffner—who helped Château St. Jean take home a Wine Spectator Wine of the Year award—destemmed the clusters, bringing out the wine’s rich, silky fruit, then laid it down for 11 months in two-thirds new French oak, eliciting spice notes and giving the wine a beautiful overall refinement. 

This is a standout bottling from a winery whose Pinots are always part of our personal collections. We know you’ll love it. 

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 14.80%
• 15 mins
• Now – 2026
• % Pinot Noir
• Serving temperature – 60°
• Cork