Most of the 2000 Napa Valley growing season can best be
characterized as uneventful - at least for the times when bud-break,
bloom and fruit-set occurred. There was a hot spell of very short duration
in mid-June. However, our patience in waiting until August 27th to start
picking our Sauvignon Blanc was amply rewarded both in terms of its
remarkable flavors and its excel-lent acidities.
Due primarily to the even, cool growing conditions of
the spring of 2000, Sauvignon Blanc crop yields were above average.
As in the past several years, in order to preserve the grapes' natural
fruit flavors, we gently pressed all the Sauvignon Blanc grapes as whole
clusters. Afterwards, we settled the juice or must in refrigerated stainless
steel tanks for approximately a day and a half. Then, we gently drew
the clear Sauvignon Blanc juice from the lees or sediment and inoculated
it with special strains of wine yeast. In order to achieve an overall
fruit-to-oak level of complexity and balance, we tank-fermented and
tank-aged 27%; barrel-fermented and barrel-aged 15% and tank-fermented
and barrel-aged 58%.
Our 2000 Sauvignon Blanc's most prominent aroma is that
of grapefruit, followed by hints of melon, fig, and vanilla. On the
palate, this wine is every bit as rich and flavorful as promised by
its aromas. There are ripe grapefruit components enveloped in a smooth,
rounded texture with subtle hints of oak and vanilla.
