Winemaker Notes
Fresh is the key word for the 2018 White. This vintage is more vibrant than the wine has been in the past, taking us back to the original 2005 vintage. While there was more skin contact, it was limited and there was no Chardonnay in the blend this year. This allowed the Roussanne and Viognier to sing. The palate shows a mix of marmalade, honeysuckle, and fresh, ripe peaches with hints of floral.
Blend: 60% Roussanne, 40% Viognier
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A blend of 60% Roussanne and 40% Viognier, the medium gold-colored (there's a touch of green) 2018 White has a fleshy, powerful style that carries beautiful notes of lemon oil, honeysuckle, toasted bread, crushed lime, and hints of minerality. It's a pure, rockingly textured, balanced white to enjoy with food over the coming 2-3 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 60% Roussanne and 40% Viognier aged in 75% new French oak, the 2018 White gives up pretty scents of apple pie and pie spices, beeswax, honeysuckle and gobs of white peaches at the core. Medium to full-bodied, it's savory and spicy with a silky mouthfeel and long, textured finish.
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.
Paso Robles has made a name for itself as a source of supple, powerful, fruit-driven Central Coast wines. But with eleven smaller sub-AVAs, there is actually quite a bit of diversity to be found in this inland portion of California’s Central Coast.
Just east over the Santa Lucia Mountains from the chilly Pacific Ocean, lie the coolest in the region: Adelaida, Templeton Gap and (Paso Robles) Willow Creek Districts, as well as York Mountain AVA and Santa Margarita Ranch. These all experience more ocean fog, wind and precipitation compared to the rest of the Paso sub-appellations. The San Miguel, (Paso Robles) Estrella, (Paso Robles) Geneso, (Paso Robles) Highlands, El Pomar and Creston Districts, along with San Juan Creek, are the hotter, more western appellations of the greater Paso Robles AVA.
This is mostly red wine country, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel standing out as the star performers. Other popular varieties include Merlot, Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Grenache and Rhône blends, both red and white. There is a fairly uniform tendency here towards wines that are unapologetically bold and opulently fruit-driven, albeit with a surprising amount of acidity thanks to the region’s chilly nighttime temperatures.