After much experimentation,
we have finally figured out the best way to grow the fruit for
this wine. It is, of course, the most expensive way imaginable.
But the combination of a great low vigor vineyard site (Westerly
Vineyard in Santa Ynez Valley) and meticulous farming has given
us a very special wine. Most people would not bother doing what
we do because sauvignon blanc wines do not command high enough
prices to pay for this kind of attention to detail. However, I
make this wine for my own pleasure, and my reward has been the
warm response it has received over the years.
If you are looking for
bland, middle-of-the road sauvignon blanc, this is not the wine
for you. Last year we actually had a complaint from a new customer
who thought there was something wrong with the 2001; he had never
tasted a sauvignon blanc that was as distinctive as ours!! Like
all our wines, this one comes with an attitude--it is zesty, herbal,
floral, mineral, and generally just brimming full of personality.