Established in 1983, the Arroyo Seco AVA is is a renowned wine region located in a valley cut in half by the Arroyo Seco River, which flows from the Santa Lucia Mountains to the Salinas Valley, but it is only just classified as a river – Arroyo Seco literally means ‘dry stream’, as the river bed is in fact completely dry for most of the year! The region is characterized by deep, gravelly soils, and despite being inland, it sees significant influence from the Pacific ocean in the form of cooling fog and wind, allowing for the longest growing season of any region in California, which is perfect for cool climate grape varieties. 

Joyce Vineyards are based above the Monterey Submarine Canyon, the largest deep underwater sea canyon in the USA, measuring over a mile in depth, where Russell Joyce makes superb Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Albarino, Riesling and Gamay, all in a bright, energetic style, reflecting the rugged Pacific coastline and the rocky, wind-swept vineyards of the Arroyo Seco. Wines are made to reflect their origin, resulting in fresh, cool wines, with gorgeous, perfumed aromatics with lovely tension. My favourite wines from the range, were, unsurprisingly, the Pinot and Chardonnay, so I am delighted to offer them here at the best prices on the market.

The 2022 Pinot Noir was made from mostly de-stemmed fruit, with 15% whoile clusters, fermented with natural yeast and aged on its lees for 7 months, creating a soft and silky wine, with intense notes of sweet and sour raspberry, wild strawberry, pomegranate, cherries and flowers. Light bodied and fresh, but superbly balanced and long on the finish, with 13.5% ABV. Utterly delicious and superb value for a Californian Pinot at just over £30 per bottle on the table.

The 2022 Chardonnay was fermented in stainless steel and aged in 75% French oak and 25% concrete. Like the Pinot Noir, this also spends 7 months on its lees, with stirring to encourage malolactic fermentation. The wine is cool and fresh, with lifted notes of golden apple and pineapple, with white flowers and a hint of something exotic. This also has just 13.5% ABV and is another superb value offering from California.