Winemaker Notes
The taste and aromatics of Rhône white blends are ideal for our Santa Barbara lifestyle. They pair well with the alfresco meals we eat and the cuisine typical of this area: grilled seafood, papaya salsa, picnics, the beach, seafood skewers and general fun. These wines are great while young and develop to an entirely different experience with bottle age.
Blend: 38% Grenache Blanc, 31% Marsanne, 15% Roussanne 8% Viognier, 8% Picpoul Blanc
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A Rhône-like blend of 38% Grenache Blanc, 31% Marsanne, 15% Roussanne, and 8% each Viognier and Picpoul Blanc, the light gold-hued 2022 M5 White offers ripe orchard fruits, honeyed lemon, blanched almond, and sappy flower notes. It's ripe, medium-bodied, has a pure, focused, elegant mouthfeel, and a great finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Clean aromas of nectarine and white flowers are delicate, yet expressive on the nose of this blend of 38% Grenache Blanc, 31% Marsanne, 15% Roussanne, 8% Viognier and 8% Picpoul Blanc. The palate offers tropically inclined flavors of jasmine extract and juicy stone fruit, while holding a chalky texture.
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.
Today it is an integral part of the greater Santa Barbara County wine region, but at one time the village, Los Olivos, was a stop on the Wells Fargo stagecoach line.