Santa Lucia Highlands, Clone by Clone
· Carmel By The Sea · Winery tasting room · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · September 29, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Taste Morgan’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Walk into Taste Morgan and the list is essentially a deep dive into one winery's best work — 28 labels, all Morgan, no distractions. That sounds limiting until you realize Morgan's Double L Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands is legitimately world-class Pinot territory, and the prices here are closer to winery-direct than to what Carmel restaurants usually charge.
The list is organized around vineyard designates — Double L, McIntyre, Tondré — and if you want to understand what site-specificity means in California Pinot Noir, this is a rare chance to do it at your own pace with your own glass. There are five separate Double L Pinot Noir clone bottlings available, which is the kind of thing you'd pay serious money to experience at a structured tasting event. Beyond Pinot, Morgan shows real range: two Rieslings, three Chardonnay designates, an un-oaked Chardonnay, a Sauvignon Blanc, and two Syrahs round out the lineup. The Highland Chardonnay and G17 Syrah act as accessible entry points, while the single-clone Double L Pinots are where the real nerding out happens.
By-the-glass specifics aren't documented from the available data, so we can't confirm what's pouring by the glass versus bottle only. Given the tasting room format, structured flights or pours are likely the primary way to work through the list — worth asking staff directly when you arrive.
The Bottom Line
Taste Morgan is the rare tasting room that earns a detour rather than a checkbox. The pricing is genuinely fair — sometimes startlingly so — and the clone-level detail on the Pinot Noir lineup makes it educational without being tedious. If you're in Carmel and care even a little about Santa Lucia Highlands as an appellation, this is a can't-skip stop.
· Carmel By The Sea · Hotel dining
Cypress Inn's wine list clears the bar that most hotel dining rooms trip over — it has depth, real producers, and a by-the-glass program you can actually navigate. Pricing runs steep in places, particularly on well-known bottles where the hotel markup is visible, but the Morgan Pinot and Neyers Chardonnay at the glass level make this a list worth engaging with rather than ignoring.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Carmel By The Sea · Contemporary Fine Dining
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Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Monte Verde / 7th Ave · Carmel By The Sea · Contemporary Californian tasting menu with European influences
Aubergine is the rare California restaurant where the wine list is as serious as the tasting menu it supports — deep in the right places, staffed by people who can actually navigate it with you. The markup is real, but so is everything else about this experience.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
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Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Monte Verde / 7th Ave · Carmel By The Sea · Contemporary Californian Fine Dining
Aubergine is the real deal — a Michelin-starred room with a list that earns the badge rather than coasting on it. The prices are steep, but if you're already committing to a $200+ tasting menu, the wine program is worth leaning into.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
· Hood River · Winery tasting room
Wy'East Vineyards is a short list with a long point of view — estate wines from varieties that have no business growing in Oregon, priced like the winery actually wants you to buy them. If you're anywhere near Hood River and you care even a little about what's possible outside the Pinot Noir monoculture, this stop is worth your afternoon.
Small but Thoughtful
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Hood River · Winery tasting room
Analemma earns its Wild Card badge by doing something most Oregon producers won't: planting Mencía and Grenache in the Gorge and committing to it fully. The list is short, but every bottle has a reason to exist. If you're driving through Hood River and want to taste something that doesn't feel like every other Pacific Northwest tasting room, this is your stop.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
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Marchesi Vineyards is doing something genuinely unusual in Oregon wine country — growing Italian grapes with seriousness and selling the results at prices that feel almost charitable. The Barbera lineup alone is worth the detour to Hood River, and the top of the list caps at $45. If you're driving through the Gorge and want to drink something you won't find anywhere else, stop here.
Small but Thoughtful
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
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