AROMA: white grapefruit, tarragon, pulverized stone
FLAVOR: Key lime, jasmine flower, satsuma
FOOD PAIRINGS: crab Louis, trout Almondine, goat cheese tart
VINIFICATION: 2.193 tons of micro-sized clusters were hand-harvested on Sept 28. Fruit was whole-cluster pressed into a mix of neutral oak puncheons, cigar-shaped barrels, and stainless steel drums. Aged for 6 months on the lees before being bottled unfiltered.
SITE: This historic Prohibition-era ranch boasts some of the oldest known vitis vinifera plantings in California. This Sauvignon Blanc, planted in 1942, may very well be the oldest SB in the country. The vines are head-trained and have been dry-farmed organically since planting on red clay soils strewn with fist-sized rocks. At 31 miles from the coast and 850ft. elevation, an extreme diurnal shift necessitates longer hang times (and a steady temperament). The vineyard is overseen by
husband/wife duo Denise + Athan Poulos.
NOTES: As the drought persists in Northern California, the octogenarians lording over the Lolonis Vineyard soldier on. Drought years always yield concentrated wines. Drought years from very old, dry-farmed vines take it to the next level. This is next level Sauvignon Blanc. We picked these miniaturized golden berries on the morning of September 9th, and whole cluster pressed them into stainless steel and one cigar-shaped barrel
(thank you for the inspiration, Didier Dagueneau). The wine took a long, long time to ferment on its wild yeasts, but at last gave us a deeply mineral expression of soil with mere hints of white fruit and flowers. There may be no better accompaniment from our cellar with fresh oysters.
