Winemaker Notes
The vibrant, enticing 2023 Métier Sauvignon Blanc displays a medley of fruit on the nose, with tree fruit, citrus, and pineapple. Bright and silky on the palate, this wine balances generous fruit flavors on a lively structure and a lengthy finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2023 Metier Sauvignon Blanc is fresh and fruity in stone and tropical fruit. Given time in stainless steel, it’s light-bodied in approachable tannins and weight. It over delivers, offering quality and simplicity that should appeal across a wide range of palates.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Métier Sauvignon Blanc has gregarious aromas of white peach, lemongrass, citrus blossoms and bread dough. The medium-bodied palate balances layered, perfumed flavors with mouthwatering acidity, and it has a long, flavorful finish.
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Vinous
The 2023 Sauvignon Blanc punches well above expectation, as a whiff of chalk dust and crushed rocks gives way to pineapple, mint leaf and an enriching note of almond paste. This is juicy to the core, with a combination of zesty acidity and mineral tones adding tremendous complexity to its central citrus-laced orchard fruits. The 2023 lingers long yet maintains amazing freshness, as a gentle tension keeps the mouth watering and hints of lime and kiwi fade.
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Wine Spectator
Vibrant and refreshing, with sleek flavors of lemon and lime that glide on the finish. Drink now. 7,850 cases made.
Capable of a vast array of styles, Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, refreshing variety that equally reflects both terroir and varietal character. Though it can vary depending on where it is grown, a couple of commonalities always exist—namely, zesty acidity and intense aromatics. This variety is of French provenance. Somm Secret—Along with Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc is a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. That green bell pepper aroma that all three varieties share is no coincidence—it comes from a high concentration of pyrazines (herbaceous aromatic compounds) inherent to each member of the family.
A large and geographically diverse AVA capable of producing a wide variety of wine styles, the Columbia Valley AVA is home to 99% of Washington state’s total vineyard area. A small section of the AVA even extends into northern Oregon!
Because of its size, it is necessarily divided into several distinctive sub-AVAs, including Walla Walla Valley and Yakima Valley—which are both further split into smaller, noteworthy appellations. A region this size will of course have varied microclimates, but on the whole it experiences extreme winters and long, hot, dry summers. Frost is a common risk during winter and spring. The towering Cascade mountain range creates a rain shadow, keeping the valley relatively rain-free throughout the entire year, necessitating irrigation from the Columbia River. The lack of humidity combined with sandy soils allows for vines to be grown on their own rootstock, as phylloxera is not a serious concern.
Red wines make up the majority of production in the Columbia Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant variety here, where it produces wines with a pleasant balance of dark fruit and herbs. Wines made from Merlot are typically supple, with sweet red fruit and sometimes a hint of chocolate or mint. Syrah tends to be savory and Old-World-leaning, with a wide range of possible fruit flavors and plenty of spice. The most planted white varieties are Chardonnay and Riesling. These range in style from citrus and green apple dominant in cooler sites, to riper, fleshier wines with stone fruit flavors coming from the warmer vineyards.