Mon Lis was born based on our love of Burgundy and through our search for great Pinot Noir.  After our success with our early Pinot Noir vintages, our customers and supporters urged us to make some Chardonnay.  We are now producing Chardonnay also using Burgundian techniques and the wonderful fruit from the Sleepy Hollow Vineyard.  We hope you enjoy them as much as our Pinot Noir.

Striving to make great Pinot Noir

Most wine drinkers have heard how seductive a great Pinot Noir can be. Much has also been written on how those who taste a great Pinot Noir will continue to search for more for the rest of their lives. What you heard and read is correct. The silky texture of great Pinot Noir is very seductive and the complexity of flavors it can provide on the front, mid and back palate will keep you searching for more.

Well why isn't everyone drinking great Pinot Noir then?

Unfortunately, very little great Pinot Noir is made and lots of mediocre Pinot Noir is produced. That's because making great Pinot Noir is very difficult (more on that in our "About Pinot" section).

The goal we continue to strive for is to make the best Pinot Noir we can. We will do this by selecting the best fruit possible (low yields from mature vines in cool climates) and fermenting in small half-ton lots (details on our winemaking techniques can be found in the "Winemaking" section) to allow maximum flavor extraction along with aging in several types of new French oak to add more complexity of flavors.

Our first effort from the 2002 vintage is currently aging in barrel. So far the indications are that we are on the right track (good deep color and lots of forward fruit), but only addition barrel aging will tell just how good this wine will be. We invite you to follow this journey with us on our web site. We look forward to meeting you in the future and having you sample our wines. Please sign up on our email list for periodic updates and the announcement of our first release.