Winemaker Notes
Pale straw-yellow. Heady aromas of lychee, red apple, nectarine, and rose petal. What a sniff! Medium-bodied with great acidity, flavors of lychee, lime, apple, and chamomile build through the long and expansive finish. Kendall will once again be very happy with this rendition. Optimum enjoyment of this highly perfumed wine should be from release through 2026.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Last of the whites and a field blend of Gewurztraminer, Trousseau Gris, and Riesling, the 2018 Compagni Portis offers lots of honeyed apple, petrol, crushed rock, and exotic floral notes as well as a beautifully textured, balanced style on the palate. It's another rocking dry white from this estate that's loaded with character.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Compagni Portis White Wine is made from vines planted in 1954 and is a blend of Gewürztraminer, Trousseau Gris and Riesling. It jumps from the glass with loads of floral and lychee perfume accented by notes of musk, green herbs and pineapple. The palate is light-bodied, bright, fresh and lively with an anchoring touch of texture on the long finish. Fun! 116 cases were made.
With hundreds of white grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended white wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used in white wine blends, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a variety that creates a soft and full-bodied white wine blend, like Chardonnay, would do well combined with one that is more fragrant and naturally high in acidity. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
Perhaps the most historically significant appellation in Sonoma County, the Sonoma Valley is home to both Buena Vista winery, California's oldest commercial winery, and Gundlach Bundschu winery, California's oldest family-run winery.
It is also one of the more geologically and climactically diverse districts. The valley includes and overlaps four distinct Sonoma County sub-appellations, including Carneros, Moon Mountain District, Sonoma Mountain and Bennett Valley. With mountains, benchlands, plains, abundant sunshine and the cooling effects of the nearby Pacific, this appellation can successfully produce a wide range of grape varieties. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gewürztraminer, and most notably, Zinfandel all thrive here. Ancient Zinfandel vines over 100 years old produce small crops of concentrated, spicy fruit, which in turn make some of the Valley's most unique wines. These can also be made as “field blends” (wines made from a mix of grape varieties grown in the same vineyard) along with Petite Sirah, Carignan and Alicante Bouschet.