A sunshine-dappled vineyard is a single way sauvignon blanc can establish amazing flavors.
This is what tipped the scale in favor of The Push Democrat’s wine of the 7 days winner — the Davis Bynum, 2020 Virginia’s Block, Jane’s Winery, Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc at $25.
“This classic, because of to the drought, we didn’t h2o the vines as substantially, and as a outcome, the cover was lesser and the shoots were being shorter,” defined Greg Morthole, winemaker of the Davis Bynum model. “The light exposure was near perfect on the leaves and berries … so the flavor advancement was amazing.”
This perfectly-crafted sauvignon blanc has aromas and flavors of grapefruit, lime and lemon. It rides on refreshing acid, has terrific minerality and finishes crisp.
“Sauvignon blanc can present eco-friendly notes in its flavors or become very tropical and citrusy,” Morthole mentioned. “There’s a lack of quality Russian River Valley sauvignon blanc, and you don’t see far too lots of single-block sauvignon blancs close to. Virginia’s Block had some faint environmentally friendly notes until eventually we acquired the canopy less than command.”
The winemaker explained he has paid shut consideration to this winery for a dozen decades mainly because it was a favourite of the late Davis and Virginia Bynum. The pair, who launched the label, marketed it to the Klein relatives in 2007. Tom Klein, the vintner of Rodney Solid Vineyards, makes the Davis Bynum at his Healdsburg Vineyard.
“It’s an honor for me to have it (the sauvignon blanc) forward,” Morthole reported. “My purpose is to make the wine advanced, balanced and flat-out tasty. While it leans on citrus tones, most vintages have a layer of tropical notes owing to the gentle publicity and yeast selection.”
Bynum is credited with being a single of the pioneers of Russian River Valley pinot noir. He acquired a vineyard in Napa but was prevented from developing a vineyard, so he moved to the Russian River Valley and obtained an old hop kiln on a residence on Westside Highway. He turned it into a vineyard just in time for the 1973 harvest and acquired some grapes that calendar year to make the really initial single-vineyard-designate pinot noir from the Russian River Valley.
Morthole, 49, joined Rodney Powerful in 2005 and became the winemaker of the Davis Bynum model in 2010. He was drawn to the planet of wine soon after sipping a glass of Gran Riserva Tempranillo.
“Twenty several years ago, my wife and I traveled to Spain to stop by a good friend whose father labored for the International Firm of Vine and Wine in Madrid,” he mentioned. “His father gave us the bottle. We opened it at the Woman & the Fig when it was even now in Glen Ellen.”
As we trip out the pandemic, Morthole explained, his main anxiety is that he may possibly eliminate his sense of smell and style. But most times he’s undaunted, immersed in the science and artwork of winemaking.
“My two most worthwhile traits are curiosity and my means not to just take myself as well seriously,” he reported. “Both are fantastic for winemaking, and existence in typical.”
Wine writer Peg Melnik can be achieved at peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5310.
