Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This wine comes from a biodynamic vineyard at 1,000 feet in elevation. Aged for eight months in 50% concrete eggs, 17% neutral oak and 33% stainless steel, the 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Le Jardin Secret Grimm's Bluff Vineyard has a perfumed nose of passion fruit, kiwi tart, tarragon and stone with with notes of fresh pineapple slices, white blossoms and white peach. Light to medium-bodied, it offers wonderfully concentrated fruits in the mouth with a pleasantly rounded texture, great juicy acidity and a long, energetic finish. This shows wonderful fruit purity, great texture and a great vein of minerality.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Lato's 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Le Jardin Secret comes all from a site in the warmer Happy Canyon region of Santa Barbara and was brought up in 50% concrete tanks, 33% neutral barrels, and the rest in stainless steel. It offers terrific notes of tart pineapple, lemon butter, white flowers, and spice citrus. These give way to a medium-bodied, beautifully balanced, textured white that has both richness and freshness. I'd drink bottles over the coming 2-3 years, but I suspect this will keep for over a decade.
Capable of a vast array of styles, Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, refreshing variety that equally reflects both terroir and varietal character. Though it can vary depending on where it is grown, a couple of commonalities always exist—namely, zesty acidity and intense aromatics. This variety is of French provenance. Somm Secret—Along with Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc is a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. That green bell pepper aroma that all three varieties share is no coincidence—it comes from a high concentration of pyrazines (herbaceous aromatic compounds) inherent to each member of the family.
On the eastern end of the Santa Ynez Valley, the rolling hills of the tiny Happy Canyon AVA produce top quality reds from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and whites from Sauvignon blanc. The region’s low-nutrient soil grows smaller vines and in turn, higher quality wine grapes.