Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: What is a typical American wine drinker going to do with Grenache Blanc? Well, how about checking out this unique and exciting flavor experience? The 2016 Brick Barn Grenache Blanc is ready to welcome everyone into the world of white Rhône grape varieties? TASTING NOTES: This wine is fresh, with bright fruit and tingling minerality in its aromas and flavors. Pair its delectable flavors with lightly smoked oysters. (Tasted: July 3, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
Producing full-bodied white wines, Grenache Blanc can be unctuous and soft or floral and fresh. Some of the finest examples are terroir-driven, age-worthy wines. It is a key ingredient in white Châteauneuf-du-Pape and many white blends across southern France and NE Spain. Somm Secret—Grenache Blanc plays a key role in the vins doux naturels of Rivesaltes and a subsidiary role in those of Banyuls and Maury.
Ranging from cool and foggy in the west to warm and dry in the east, the Santa Ynez Valley is a climatically diverse growing area. The most expansive AVA within the larger Santa Barbara County region, Santa Ynez is also home to a wide variety of soil types and geographical features. The appellation is further divided into four distinct sub-AVAs—Sta. Rita Hills, Ballard Canyon, Los Olivos District and Happy Canyon—each with its own defining characteristics.
A wide selection of grapes is planted here—more than sixty different varieties, and counting. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir dominate in the chilly west, while Zinfandel, Rhône blends, and Bordeaux blends rule the arid east. Syrah is successful at both ends of the valley, with a lean and peppery, Old-World sensibility closer to the coast and lush berry fruit further inland.