2023 Joyce Vineyards, Albariño, Arroyo Seco AVA, Monterey County.
Russell Joyce’s 2023 are looking to be some of his best ever wines and this ultra fresh and steely Albariño is wonderfully pure and vibrant stuff that perfectly captures the vintage and place with a stony core of green apple, tart white peach, racy citrus and an element of salty wet rock on the zingy light bodied palate, making for a super refreshing Summer wine. I was able to taste through some of Russell’s latest releases recently, including this tasty Albariño, as well as the previously reviewed Vermentino, the Sauvignon Blanc and his brilliant Gamay, and it really got my attention, especially the early set of 2023s and I can’t wait to see the full lineup from this vintage that should get out by mid Summer. Joyce has really found his niche with a tight collection of marine climate influenced wines that shine for their clarity and zesty personalities, especially with his white and rosé bottlings, and the lighter framed reds. Since moving in to his new facility and winery in the old Ventana spot in Arroyo Seco, Russell has really upped the quality throughout the range and has been able to put an extra focus of the terroir and non intervention winemaking, promoting greater transparency and varietal nuance. Having watched Joyce grow up, it is impressive to see how much attention to detail goes into every wine in the portfolio now and how the winery has become a standard barer for the Monterey region. As noted before, Arroyo Seco AVA, home to Joyce Vineyards, is one of the smallest AVAs in California, but it has taken on a more important status in recent years, after being a very sleepy region since some of the vines were planted here by the famous Mirassou family in 1961, over two decades before the region received its AVA status. Named for its unique geographic features of an ancient waterway named “Arroyo Seco” which was a seasonal creek that brought rain water and snowmelt from what we now call the Santa Lucia Mountains and the Los Padres National Forrest to the Salinas Valley.
Joyce Vineyards, which has now become one of Monterey’s most recognizable labels, maybe best known for their value priced Submarine Canyon Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, as well as the original Carmel Valley Estate Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, now has a cult like following for the Russell Joyce Collection Gamay offerings. Russell also does a nice set of alternative whites, like this Vermentino, as well as his Chenin Blanc, and the Albariño, which is absolutely stunning in this 2023 vintage. The Cedar Lane and Mission Ranch grapes, as seen here, with the Albariño and with Vermentino, as I reviewed recently, for Joyce’s almost electric shock style dry white wines, were harvested in idea cool temperatures from Mark Chesebro’s vines in the Arroyo Seco AVA, just south of the Santa Lucia Highlands bench. This AVA, one of Monterey’s oldest, was officially recognized in 1983, and is well known for having a lengthy growing season, giving ripe fruit, but with loads of energy, as the grapes retain lots of natural acidity. The strong daily winds that bring cool fog from the Monterey Bay, as seen in the SLH as well, as winemaker Russell Joyce explains, force the grapes to spend more time on the vine building flavor and complexity, for which his wines, like this one, are noted for. Extremely rocky well-drained alluvial soils are, as he continues, the base for creating wines processing a signature freshness and minerality. This terroir in Arroyo Seco, with its combination of sand, granite, and shale loam soils, along with, as the winery adds, with the ever present marine influence, helps provide the perfect conditions for growing grapes like Albariño and Vermentino, as I have mentioned. Again, as shared recently, Joyce, who uses only indigenous yeasts, prefers lower PH, low alcohol and bright acidity, which he believes results in authentic clarity and he uses less oak, almost all being neutral, especially on his white wines and this wine stays very faithful to that style, but this vintage takes to the next level. I am excited to see how the 2023 Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs turn out here at Joyce, they should be something quite special, but in the meantime I highly recommend sipping on this Albariño!
($25 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive