Winemaker Notes
The 2023 vintage was long and temperate, and at times, blissfully cool. The resulting wine has a great balance of richness and texture and a very well delineated backbone of vibrant acidity. Aromatics and flavors of lemon, mandarin, Asian pear, and white peach with fresh, floral notes of cassis bud and lime. Very long and mouth-wateringly juicy.
Blend: 93% Sauvignon Blanc, 7% Semillon
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Spottswoode has been one of Napa Valley's stars with this grape variety. The 2023 Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc is one of the winery's finest efforts. TASTING NOTES: This wine is vibrant and energetic, exhibiting aromas and flavors of ripe lemons and limes. Its chalkiness and graphite pair well with grilled oysters. (Tasted: May 10, 2024, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Spectator
Powerful, with a succulent, fragrant mix of peach, grilled lemon and pineapple flavors that show details of lemon verbena, lemon balm, beeswax, orange blossoms and litsea oil. Seamless and harmonious all the way through the long, impressive finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2023 Sauvignon Blanc is gorgeous, offering clean citrus and lime-like fruits with a pure, minty, floral style that keeps you coming back to the glass. I love its purity, it's medium-bodied, has integrated acidity, and a great finish.
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James Suckling
Rich in fresh herbs, citrus and crisp melon aromas, with plenty of fruit and freshness. All barrel fermented, using about half steel barrels and half oak barrels. With great acidity and linearity, it tastes tangy but full on the palate.
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Vinous
The 2023 Sauvignon Blanc is gorgeous. Creamy, layered and vibrant, the 2023 is wonderfully vibrant from start to finish. Lemon confit, marzipan, white flowers, mint and tomato leaf all race across the palate. The 2023 was fermented in a combination of French oak, stainless steel drums, cement eggs and amphorae.
Spottswoode is an historic, family-owned estate vineyard and winery located on the western edge of St. Helena in Napa Valley. The estate was established in 1882 by George Schonewald, whose historic Victorian home is depicted on the label. Spottswoode was christened by Mrs. Albert Spotts, whose family owned the property from 1910 until its purchase in 1972 by Mary Weber Novak and her husband, Dr. Jack Novak. After Jack died unexpectedly in 1977, Mary carried out their shared dream, and Spottswoode’s debut Cabernet Sauvignon was produced in 1982, exactly one hundred years after the estate’s founding.
To ensure the highest quality, Spottswoode is dedicated to producing a handful of wines in very limited quantities: Spottswoode Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Lyndenhurst, and Field Book. The winery's goal is to produce exceptional, well-balanced, structured wines that exhibit texture, elegance, consistency and the ability to age well.
The 40-acre Spottswoode Estate Vineyard is an ideal terroir for growing wine grapes. Situated on the apex of the Sulphur Creek fan, the alluvial soils comprised primarily of sandy clay loam provide superb drainage. The gap between the Mayacamas Range and Spring Mountain admits cooling maritime breezes that temper the sun’s heat, creating an ideal microclimate for winegrowing. Among the first to introduce organic farming practices in the Napa Valley in 1985, Spottswoode is proud to have enjoyed the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) certification since 1992 and Demeter Biodynamic Certification since 2020. Spottswoode is also Napa Valley’s first Certified B-Corp winery.
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.
Reaching up California's coastline and into its valleys north of San Francisco, the North Coast AVA includes six counties: Marin, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake. While Napa and Sonoma enjoy most of the glory, the rest produce no shortage of quality wines in an intriguing and diverse range of styles.
Climbing up the state's rugged coastline, the chilly Marin County, just above the City and most of Sonoma County, as well as Mendocino County on the far north end of the North Coast successfully grow cool-climate varieties like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and in some spots, Riesling. Inland Lake County, on the other hand, is considerably warmer, and Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc produce some impressive wines with affordable price tags.