Winemaker Notes
Blend: 50% Clairette Blanche, 50% Grenache Blanc
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 50% Clairette Blanche and 50% Grenache Blanc, the 2021 Beautiful Earth White is scented of golden apples, pears and quince, plus touches of baker’s yeast, beeswax, lime peel and acacia. The medium-bodied palate is expansive and satiny with concentrated layers of savory fruit and a long, refreshing finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
This blend of 50% Clairette Blanche and 50% Grenache Blanc feels like a lesson how these varieties should be used. Tightly wound aromas of lychee and coconut play against a chalky backdrop on the nose. The palate is loaded with a grippy texture that opens toward white melon and sharp lime flavors.
Editors' Choice -
Wine Spectator
Lush and vibrant, with delicately multilayered apricot, orange peel and blanched almond flavors that finish with a crisp, savory accent. Clairette Blanche and Grenache Blanc.
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.
Paso Robles has made a name for itself as a source of supple, powerful, fruit-driven Central Coast wines. But with eleven smaller sub-AVAs, there is actually quite a bit of diversity to be found in this inland portion of California’s Central Coast.
Just east over the Santa Lucia Mountains from the chilly Pacific Ocean, lie the coolest in the region: Adelaida, Templeton Gap and (Paso Robles) Willow Creek Districts, as well as York Mountain AVA and Santa Margarita Ranch. These all experience more ocean fog, wind and precipitation compared to the rest of the Paso sub-appellations. The San Miguel, (Paso Robles) Estrella, (Paso Robles) Geneso, (Paso Robles) Highlands, El Pomar and Creston Districts, along with San Juan Creek, are the hotter, more western appellations of the greater Paso Robles AVA.
This is mostly red wine country, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel standing out as the star performers. Other popular varieties include Merlot, Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Grenache and Rhône blends, both red and white. There is a fairly uniform tendency here towards wines that are unapologetically bold and opulently fruit-driven, albeit with a surprising amount of acidity thanks to the region’s chilly nighttime temperatures.