Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
About as good as this variety gets, the 2013 Malvasia Bianca Larner Vineyard is a crazily perfumed, exotic white that offers up tons of flower oil, chamomile, lemon peel, honey and mint-like aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, supple, elegant and juicy, it's an absolutely delicious dry white to drink over the coming year or so.
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Wine Enthusiast
Extremely pungent yet not overdone aromas of ruby red grapefruit, tropical flowers and passion-fruit juice show on this great interpretation of the often sweet-leaning grape. Despite the showy nose, it's quite tight and dry on the palate, with flavors of pear and apple skins, lime rinds and yellow grapefruit.
Persistent with jasmine aromas and tropical fruit flavors, both grape and name are far-reaching. Approximately 70 registered grapes contain Malvasia as part of their name or are listed as a synonym. The French call it Malvoisie, Germans call it Malvasier, British say Malmsey and confusingly one variety double-times under the alias, Boal, on the island of Madeira. In any case, Italy has more forms of Malvasia than any other country: Malvasia Bianca di Candia, Malvasia di Candia Aromatico and the red-skinned Malvasia di Casorzo from Piedmont. The list goes on. Somm Secret—The actual name could stem from an Italian mispronunciation of Monemvasia, a southern Greek port.
Ranging from cool and foggy in the west to warm and dry in the east, the Santa Ynez Valley is a climatically diverse growing area. The most expansive AVA within the larger Santa Barbara County region, Santa Ynez is also home to a wide variety of soil types and geographical features. The appellation is further divided into four distinct sub-AVAs—Sta. Rita Hills, Ballard Canyon, Los Olivos District and Happy Canyon—each with its own defining characteristics.
A wide selection of grapes is planted here—more than sixty different varieties, and counting. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir dominate in the chilly west, while Zinfandel, Rhône blends, and Bordeaux blends rule the arid east. Syrah is successful at both ends of the valley, with a lean and peppery, Old-World sensibility closer to the coast and lush berry fruit further inland.