News

Sauvignon Blanc Release


Greetings

New Releases
2021 Sauvignon Blanc, Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara 
2020 Sauvignon Blanc, Grassini Family Vineyard
2020 Sauvignon Blanc, Vogelzang Vineyard
2020 Sauvignon Blanc, Grimm’s Bluff Vineyard 

These wines are extremely limited
There’s only so much to spare of these wines as most of their case production is allocated to the current or upcoming Wine Club, so be sure to act fast.
PURCHASE

New Release – 2020 Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blancs and the brand new 2021 Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara Sauvignon Blanc

We are thrilled to announce the release of the 2020 Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blancs from the Grassini Family, Grimm’s Bluff, and Vogelzang vineyards, along with the 2021 version of our appellation blend, the Sauvignon Blanc, Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara. 
 
We believe that Sauvignon Blanc is one of the great wine grapes of the world, and that Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara is perhaps the most ideal place in the US to grow it. Properly farmed for quality, Sauvignon Blanc from here makes astounding wines, as has been recognized by our customers and critics alike.
 
**Note. The Grassini and Vogelzang are wine club selections, and therefore, we can only let a small amount out today, as we must reserve the lion’s share for the club. Given their tiny production, we suggest acting fast, or better yet, joining the wine club to ensure your access.
 
Sauvignon Blanc Program Overview
 
From our inception, we noticed that properly farmed grapes from Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara gave wines of concentration but also great structure, and we believed that these grapes could be made in the style of top white Bordeaux, with its intensity and aging potential. With that intention, we set out to find the best sites and fine tune the farming and winemaking to accomplish that goal.   
 
Vineyards: We source high quality fruit from select, expertly managed vineyards in Happy Canyon. We look for good soils, aspects, and vine age, if possible, but perhaps most important is the dedication to quality of the ownership and management teams. After 15 years of refining, we now have multiple blocks in four spectacular vineyards: Vogelzang (three blocks, 3.59 acres total), Grassini (3 blocks, 2.25 acres), Grimm’s Bluff (three blocks, 2.21 acres) and Two Wolves (just outside Happy Canyon, 1 block, .33 acres). These sites are each capable of producing top quality wine.   
 
Farming: Our grapes are carefully farmed following organic (or biodynamic) principles on a per acre basis according to our specifications for pruning, shoot thinning, canopy management, yield control and irrigation. We focus on vine balance, proper yield, and exceptionally high quality. Pick dates are chosen by flavor and grape condition as much as sugar or acidity numbers. We have the grapes harvested by hand in the cool morning hours by excellent crews (most have been with the same vineyard for 10 or more years), and we personally sort the grapes with the teams. The fruit that arrives at the winery is in pristine condition.
 
Winemaking: The grapes are processed within hours, gently whole cluster pressed to tank, and cold settled overnight. Given these unique high-quality grapes (great concentration with perfect natural acidity and minerality) we believe in extended oak aging and lees contact to develop richness and character in the wines. Thus, we ferment the juice on native yeasts in a mixture of French oak barrels (roughly 80%) and stainless steel (roughly 20%) until complete dryness. We top up the barrels, block malolactic fermentation and then age each barrel on its lees for roughly 7 months before we make selections based upon wine character, and typicity to the vineyard terroir. The appellation blend wine is given roughly 8 months aging before bottling, whereas the single vineyard wines are aged, depending upon vintage, for a total of 15-19 months, in a larger percentage of oak, including small amounts of new oak.

The Wines

2021 Sauvignon Blanc, Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara

This wine is blended from all four of our vineyards. We choose barrels (or tanks) that have a more energetic, taut, and lively character, along with the depth and concentration that these fabulous vineyards can provide when farmed properly. The wine ages for a total of 8 months on the lees, before it is blended, cold stabilized with a light fining (plant and soil-based fining agents) and gently cross flow filtered before bottling. This wine has routinely been highly rated by critics and coveted by top restaurants. The wine pairs with a tremendous variety of foods with weight and interest lifted by great structure and acidity.

2021 was a very cool vintage that, unlike 2020, did not suffer from searing heat waves. The season was long and measured, with exceptional ripeness and lower sugars and fantastic acidities. We love this vintage. The wine is comprised of 60% Grassini, 27% Vogelzang, 8% Two Wolves, 5% Grimm’s Bluff. It was aged in 85% neutral oak barrels and 15% stainless steel. We think it is exceptionally bright and lively, but with real depth from the long season and the fantastic condition of the vines.

The 2021 wine has not yet been rated, but the 2020 was widely loved by critics (95 Wine Advocate, 92 points, Vinous).

This wine is limited, as it has been out of stock for a while and demand is high.  It will be a great wine for summer (and the summer after that if you can keep some). Enjoy!

2020 Sauvignon Blanc, Grassini Family Vineyard ** Wine Club Wine, Fall 2022

2020 was a miracle vintage as we have discussed many times over the last year. Somehow, we missed all the wildfires that ravaged the state. A cool year was sped up by a massive heatwave in August, which caused some dehydration and required us pick the Sauvignon Blancs very quickly during the following cool down.. Grapes were picked in our three blocks from August 18-21. Yields were very low (well under 3 tons per acre), but acidities were still excellent due to the cool year.

The 2020 Grassini selection was comprised of wines that were aged in 100% French oak barrels (228L) and Cigars (300L), 10% of which were new. The wine was aged on its lees for a total of 16 months before bottling. The wine shows its usual kaleidoscopic green fruited (kiwi, honeydew) and tropical (passion fruit, fresh coconut) and flavors, with nice lift from vibrant, yet round and lip-smacking acidity.

The 2020 Grassini has not been reviewed but Jeb Dunnuck gave the 2019 Grassini 96 points and some great press, calling it “one of the finest examples of this variety in California”. The Wine Advocate gave it 95 points as well.

Extremely limited – Only 250 cases produced, most going to the wine club this Fall.

2020 Sauvignon Blanc, Vogelzang Vineyard **Wine Club Wine, Winter 2022

Vogelzang is a tremendous site. We have leased several acres here since 2009, and these wines have been some of our most decorated and long-lived wines – as much as the reds!  Vines are now 20 years old and in their prime.

In 2020 the vessels selected for this wine were 100% French oak barrels of varying sizes (228L barriques, 276L “cigars”, and 300L and 320 L “Muid’ocs”).  In total the new wood represented 22% of the blend.  The wine was aged for a total of 18 months on its lees before bottling.

The resulting wine shows classic Vogelzang character of powerful stone fruit, mango and pineapple aromas, with some floral and herb notes, followed by dramatic fruit flavors of great concentration and texture leading to a whiplash of citrus dominated acidity and effusive minerality, which gives a tremendous finish.

The 2020 is a worthy successor to the 97-point (Jeb Dunnuck) 2019 Vogelzang, which Jeb said, “just blew me away” with “thrilling notes of crushed limes, lemons, sappy flowers, and minerality.” Jeb concluded his review, saying this wine is “as good as anything out there!” The Wine Advocate added 96 points as well.

Extremely Limited. Only 260 cases produced. Most going to the Wine Club in February 2023.

2020 Sauvignon Blanc, Grimm’s Bluff Vineyard

From its inception, Grimm’s Bluff has been painstakingly and biodynamically farmed for top quality grapes, yields be damned. The vineyard produces extremely small vines and tiny clusters, which give highly concentrated fruit. We selected three separate blocks (head trained clone 1, vertical shoot position (“VSP”)  clone 1 and VSP musque clone) for this wine, which is aged in French oak Cigars, a portion of which is new (light long toast). Here the wood frames the wine, stretching it and lengthening it so that the finish lasts minutes.

In 2020, we aged the wine for 16 months on its lees in 75% French oak of various shapes and sizes (27% new) and 25% stainless steel. The resulting wine was all Clone 1, 75% head trained section, 25% VSP. As is typical, this wine is tightly coiled, with powerful minerals from the clay and river rock soils, and deeply concentrated from low (2.39 tpa) yields. Melons and stone fruits are held aloft by citrus, minerals, excellent acidity and the structure from the new oak barrels. It should age for a long time.

Again, it is too soon for scores on this wine, but the 2019 was 95 points, Wine Advocate.

This wine is extremely limited, only 120 cases were produced.

PURCHASE

Cheers!

— John, Steve, Brandon
and the entire Dragonette Cellars team