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Over the past few weeks, I’ve been tasting through a lot of 2024 Pinot Noirs—Morét’s full lineup and my Clarice wines from tank. And here’s the thing: they’re making me rethink the vintage—at least when it comes to our wines.
Heading into harvest, 2024 looked primed to be an “immediate gratification” year—a vintage full of Pinot Noirs ready to enjoy while the lauded 2023s rested peacefully in the cellar. Warmer overall than 2023 (but without the searing heat spikes of 2022), it had alternating stretches of warm-to-hot days and cooler spells—conditions that typically yield plush, fruit-forward Pinots with soft structure and long, easy finishes. In other words: wines you open now, not years from now.
But somewhere along the way, the vintage had other ideas.
My first clue came during Clarice fermentations. In past years, my wines stayed on skins for 17–21 days. In 2024, after just 14 days, they already had a firm tannic backbone—so I pressed early.
The second clue came in spring 2025, tasting Morét’s 2024 Pinots. They were everything we’d expected—rich, concentrated, bursting with fruit—when she asked, “If they have this much going on, wouldn’t they be even better with more structure for aging?” That question set us on a different path for both her lineup and mine.
The result: two completely unexpected Pinot Noirs and a core portfolio that defies the vintage.
The “Immediate” Wines
We began by isolating barrels with beautiful fruit but less structure. Those became the 2024 Morét-Brealynn Stray Dogs Pinot Noir (Sonoma County) and the 2024 Felix Culpa Pinot Noir (Monterey County). They’re delicious right now and will shine for the next 2–3 years—exactly what we thought all our 2024s would be.
The Keepers
The rest of the lineup—Morét’s Lakeview Vineyard, Sexton Vineyard, Russian River Valley, and Sonoma Coast Pinot Noirs, plus all three 2024 Clarice bottlings—are true vin de garde. Open them today, and they’ll be even better tomorrow… and the next day. The Russian River is the most approachable now, but even it improves after 36 hours. And the Sexton Vineyard—a name Siduri fans will remember—returns in stunning form (only three barrels made). Personally, I think this is the strongest set of Pinot Noirs Morét has ever bottled.
As for Clarice, the 2024s carry more tannin than any vintage before. I’ve joked that when I was young, I made Pinots to drink young—and now that I’m older, I make Pinots that need age. These will prove that point. Just before bottling, I tasted 48-hour-open tank samples, and they were singing. Cellar time will make them extraordinary. For now, 2017 and 2018 Clarice are drinking beautifully if you want a glimpse of what time can do (and yes, I still have some in the library).
In 31 years of winemaking, I’ve learned that sometimes the vintage makes the decisions for you. But occasionally, you get the chance to guide it—to raise a wine, as the French say, through its adolescence. In 2024, Morét and I chose the road less traveled: crafting Pinots built to last.
We can’t wait to share them with you—whether you open them after a good long decant… or a good long wait.