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Wine Details
Price:
$15.00 per bottle
Description:
The 2004 season began very early with warm spring weather. This produced grapes of beautiful quality that ripened about 2 weeks earlier than usual. Our Sauvignon Blanc comes from two specially selected vineyards in the Arroyo Seco area of the Salinas Valley.
The grapes are all handpicked. We began picking during the last week of August in the Griva Vineyard and finished up in mid-September in the Ventana Vineyard. At Bernardus, we like to pick our Sauvignon Blanc rather less ripe to retain a crisp natural acidity and produce bright varietal characters. 1/3 is fermented in chilled stainless-steel tanks with the rest being fermented in used French oak barrels. This technique helps accentuate the fruit flavors and enhances the wine’s rich mouth-feel without adding any oak barrel flavors.
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Varietal Definition
Sauvignon Blanc:
Sauvignon Blanc is widely grown in California — at over 15,000 acres, it’s now the third most planted variety — and often assumes the moniker ‘Fume Blanc’. This popular synonym, credited to Napa’s Robert Mondavi, derives from the grape’s historic home of Pouilly in France’s Upper Loire Valley, where Sauvignon Blanc is the dominant varietal and goes locally by the name of ‘Blanc Fumé’. When treated with respect and afforded suitable growing conditions, Sauvignon Blanc is one of the wine world’s darlings. Steely, racy acidity, green, gooseberry fruit, asparagus and a grassy, herbaceous character characterize dry wines made from this grape.
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