Integrity Wines’ 2017 Pinot Noir is simply outstanding. It has already won serious awards, including the Director’s Award for best Pinot Noir in the 2019 Monterey International Wine Competition in May with a score of 95 points (platinum), plus 91 points from Wine Enthusiast.
On top of these prestigious accolades, Integrity’s Riesling Santa Lucia Highlands won gold at the Orange County Fair.
Integrity wines get better and better, thanks in huge part to Proprietor and Winemaker Mark Hoover, who goes all-out to produce top-notch elixirs. Wines are made in small batches, and Hoover cares about handcrafting, carefully sourcing all the ingredients.
The Pinot Noir 2017 Santa Lucia Highlands ($36) has deep notes of Bing cherry, pomegranate seed, red raspberry, fresh violets, black tea, fennel, and cured leather. With its “damp soil on the nose, along with raspberry jam, ripe strawberry, dried lavender, and crushed graphite on the palate,” this intensely complex wine crescendos to a gorgeous mouthful of Pinot. Hoover says it pairs well with ribs, pork chops, roasted duck breast, fresh salmon, and halibut.
For those who truly appreciate exceptional food and wine, there will be a Taste of Integrity Summer Harvest Dinner at the winery on Saturday, Aug. 3, with Chef Diego Felix at the helm. Felix, of Colectivo Felix, will create seven Argentine-inspired courses that perfectly pair with seven newly released Integrity wines. Hoover will talk about his wines at the evening feast.
The event is open to the public and reserved for guests 21 and over. Tickets cost $150.
Integrity’s wines are also now available in many liquor stores, clubs and restaurants, such as Soif Restaurant & Wine Bar, West End Tap & Kitchen, East End Gastropub, Gayle’s Bakery, Cantine Winepub, and Kuumbwa Jazz Center. The winery’s Watsonville tasting room is open from noon-5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
