Winemaker Notes
This is a wine that you definitely want to serve with a rich beurre blanc, though a lobster risotto would also serve quite nicely.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Very pretty dried apple, pineapple and mango follow through to medium to full body with fresh acidity. Mineral, stone and limestone undertones. A serious white. A blend of grenache blanc and roussanne. From biodynamically-grown grapes.
-
Wine Enthusiast
There's a compellingly nutty warmth to the nose of this reserve blend of 66% Grenache Blanc and 34% Roussanne, with pecan and cashew aromas as well as more tart scents of key lime peels and lemon mousse. It lands heavily on the palate with roasted banana flavors and a buttery midpalate, but it is cut immediately by a kumquat tartness. Fascinating sipper.
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.
Named after the dramatic, seasonal river of rain and snowmelt that cuts through the upper elevations of the Santa Lucia Mountains, the Arroyo Seco AVA extends east from the resultant mountain gorge, and into the rural and warm Salinas Valley. During the growing season, cool and damp Pacific Ocean air penetrates the gorge and flows into the valley, creating a cool evening respite for vineyards after a hot summer day. This natural water-release has also created a subterranean aquifer, which helps set the foundation of the AVA's boundaries and supplies the vineyards with water.
Arroyo Seco was actually home to the first commercial vineyard in California, called Mission Ranch, which was owned and propogated by the Mirassou family in the 1960s.
Chardonnay is most widely grown here. But as one of Monterey’s warmer regions, Arroyo Seco enjoys the highest praise for its reds, namely Bordeaux blends.
Arroyo Seco is one of the oldest AVAs in California, its status granted in the early 1980s, and also remains one of its smallest.