OUR WINE
2022 AURELIA Sauvignon Blanc - Bentz Vineyard, Napa Valley
TASTING NOTES: A bright, crisp, beautifully structured Sauvignon Blanc, with a vivid palate and mouthwatering acidity. Full-bodied and bold, with an elegant balance and complexity. Flavors of fresh lemongrass, lemon curd tart and fragrant honeysuckle. An inviting hint of white nectarine, enhanced by citrus bloom from new oak barrels. Blended from one-third Sauvignon Musqué grapes, AURELIA has a subtle depth and richness, with delicate aromas of Napa Valley wildflowers. Lingers on the palate for a refreshing finish.
Our winemaking begins in the vineyard, with canopy management that unlocks the full potential of our fruit for bright, vivid, intensely flavorful wines. Without proper canopy management, Sauvignon Blanc vines grow like weeds, putting all their energy into shoots and leaves, resulting in fruit that is thin and green. We prune our vines with precision each growing season, top them, and remove leaves and shoots so that the vines’ energy goes into creating fruit with bold flavors and balanced acidity.
As grapes get close to ripeness, we taste daily to determine the right date for picking each of our three Sauvignon Blanc clones. To ensure that none of AURELIA’s freshness and flavor are lost at harvest, we hand-pick grapes in the cool of the night, starting at midnight. We pick the fruit at 23-24 degrees Brix, just as the clusters begin to turn from green to gold on the vine. Letting our fruit ripen a little longer than the grapes that go into cool-climate Sauvignon Blancs allows fresh fruit flavors like honeysuckle, Tuscan melon, peach, and pear—as well as citrus flavors of lemon curd, and sweet grapefruit—to develop fully.
On the morning of harvest we crush each of our three Sauvignon Blanc clones separately. We ferment each clone independently in the full-barrel Bordeaux Blanc style, using different yeasts for each clone. We love the round palate that emerges by approaching our winemaking in this classical style. Each full-barrel fermentation maximizes the blending capabilities of our wine for flavor, mouth feel, and finish.
After barrel fermentation is complete, we allow partial malolactic fermentation to impart just enough crème feeling to the wine. We stir the yeast lees in each barrel following the practice that traditional European and American winemakers of old called battonage. Stirring the lees increases the weight of our wine on the palate and gives it a lovely velvety smoothness that increases over the 12-16 months of barrel aging. The result is a wine with beautiful volume and the true longevity of a rare reserve Napa-Bordeaux Blanc.
AURELIA is one of the only stand-alone, single vineyard Sauvignon Blanc bottlings in the entire Napa Valley.
