Winemaker Notes
Pure and focused with tangerine flesh, peach skin, subtle white flowers / citrus blossom, saline, chalk and granite. Focused and nervey from the oldest Pinot Blanc vines (and a few Melon de Bourgogne) in California, with a touch more structure / acid / verve than previous vintages. Bright and dry with wonderful stone-fruit persistence, mouth-cleansing freshness. Fantastic either as a cocktail wine, Summer Sipper, wine for the lake or the ocean (boating), or with all the food listed below! I can’t neglect to mention cold water oysters, and for Pinot Blanc I think of Hog Island Sweetwaters, Morro Bays, or anything from good Northwestern or Northeastern oceans. Also fantastic with beets and goat cheese, salami & cheese plates, Kansas City or St Louis style BBQ. Also makes an amazing popsicle to cleanse palates between courses.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Quite a solid wine for under $20, this bottling shows rounded pear flesh, ripe nectarine, yellow-grapefruit pith and a chalky touch to the nose. Crisp lemony acidity defines the sip, where broader apple-flesh flavors also emerge over time.
Approachable, aromatic and pleasantly plush on the palate, Pinot Blanc is a white grape variety most associated with the Alsace region of France. Although its heritage is Burgundian, today it is rarely found there and instead thrives throughout central Europe, namely Germany and Austria, where it is known as Weissburgunder and Alto Adige where it is called Pinot Bianco. Interestingly, Pinot Blanc was born out of a mutation of the pink-skinned Pinot Gris. Somm Secret—Chardonnay fans looking to try something new would benefit from giving Pinot Blanc a try.
A lesser-known but elite AVA within the larger Santa Barbara district, the Santa Maria Valley AVA runs precisely west to east starting near the coast. The valley funnels cool, Pacific Ocean air to the vineyards more inland, allowing grapes a longer hang time to ripen evenly and achieve their full potential by harvest time. Combined with minimal rainfall, consistent warm sunshine, and well-drained soils, it is an ideal environment for grape growing.
Many of the wineries here are small and highly respected, having established a reputation in the 1970s and 80s for producing excellent Central Coast wines like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. More recently, Syrah has also proven quite successful in the region. Many vineyards are owned by growers who sell their grapes to other wineries, so it is common to see the same vineyard name on bottlings from different wineries. Bien Nacido Vineyard is perhaps the best-known and most prestigious.