Winemaker Notes
This wine offers notes of fresh apricot, white peach, Haitian orange, honeysuckle, and marzipan, and pairs beautifully with bleu cheese, duck sausage, and dried fruit.
Blend: 32% Chenin Blanc, 14% Malvasia Bianca, 12% Pinot Gris, 11% Pinot Blanc, 10% Vermentino, 8% Trousseau Gris, 4% Albariño, 3% Sémillon, 2% Verdelho, 2% Picpoul Blanc, 1% Colombard, 1% Gros Manseng
Professional Ratings
-
Vinous
The 2024 SKINS opens with a vivid bouquet that recalls sun tea and blood orange. It is sweet upon entry, with a liquid floral concentration that saturates the senses as nuances of apricot and melon swirl throughout. Fresh and medium in length, the 2024 finishes with a hint of candied citrus.
-
Wine Enthusiast
This brand was an early adopter to the skin-contact trend and remains one of the more serious-minded producers. In this case, a 12-grape blend led by Chenin Blanc produces a slightly copper-hued wine that's full of tangerine and maraschino cherry on the nose, exuding Old Fashioned cocktail vibes. The palate is all about texture and flavors of orange peel and iron.
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.
The largest and perhaps most varied of California’s wine-growing regions, the Central Coast produces a good majority of the state's wine. This vast California wine district stretches from San Francisco all the way to Santa Barbara along the coast, and reaches inland nearly all the way to the Central Valley.
Encompassing an extremely diverse array of climates, soil types and wine styles, it contains many smaller sub-AVAs, including San Francisco Bay, Monterey, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley.
While the Central Coast California wine region could probably support almost any major grape varietiy, it is famous for a few Central Coast reds and whites. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel are among the major ones. The Central Coast is home to many of the state's small, artisanal wineries crafting unique, high-quality wines, as well as larger producers also making exceptional wines.