2009
SAUVIGNON BLANC MCGINLEY
Santa Ynez
Valley
THE VINEYARD
What is striking about
McGinley Vineyard is the profound lack of vigor with which the
typically energetic sauvignon blanc vines grow--a direct result
of the poor soils there. Many sections have only a foot and a
half of topsoil, beneath which is fractured shale, and in one
block, serpentine rock. The wines from these poor soils are amazingly
flavorful because the vine's energy is concentrated on maturing
its fruit, rather than on producing leaves.
THE FARMING
Our vines are pruned in
a completely different way from the rest of the sauvignon blanc
planted at McGinley. When I started buying this fruit in 1998,
I noticed that the shoots growing during the spring and summer
were quite variable-some were vigorous and long and others stunted.
This affected fruit quality, since one needs a certain number
of leaves to properly ripen a cluster of grapes. The fruit on
the short shoots wasn't as flavorful, so we converted our vines
from cane pruning to the cordon method, which helps concentrate
the vine's energy into producing shoots of more even length. Over
time we have found this pruning change has given us a much smaller
crop, and thus more expensive crop. But the benefit has been the
quality we have been able to achieve in the wines. To test our
hypothesis that less fruit grown on more even shoots makes higher
quality wine, we purchased small quantities of fruit grown more
conventionally in rows adjacent to ours. The fruit from those
higher yielding vines produced a wine that was actually more immediately
accessible--it was easy. But our carefully farmed vines produced
a wine with greater personality and flavor intensity-- clearly
better even though it required longer bottle aging to fully reveal
itself.
In an effort to further
increase quality, in 2009 we began to farm our blocks organically.
Doing so is a little more expensive, but I think it's worth it
for the peace of mind alone-it's not nice to use poisons on our
food. There are also practical reasons for following organic practices;
for instance, natural fertilizers affect the vine slowly while
chemical fertilizers charge up the vine, bringing too much leaf
growth, which is bad for quality. And, although synthetic pesticides
are handy if you are negligent and find yourself in trouble, the
careful grower anticipates problems before they develop and can
use milder organic compounds to avoid those problems. Paying close
attention to the vine's needs is essential for fine grape growing--so
going organic dovetails well with the goals of the craft winemaker.
THE WINEMAKING
We are always the first
to harvest from McGinley vineyard; the intention is to capture
the grapes when they are at their peak flavor with acidity that
is fresh and vibrant. The timing is critical because at this warm
site the grapes mature quickly, so we have only a day or two to
pick before the balance is lost.
The processing of the grapes
at the winery is gentle; whole clusters are loaded in a pneumatic
press, and very little pressure is used to extract the juice.
The juice is then drained into barrels for fermentation. While
most sauvignon blanc is fermented and aged in tanks, we like what
barrel fermentation and barrel aging does to round out and bring
complexity to the wine, though we studiously avoid using new barrels
because the oak-y flavors they impart would mask the vineyard's
originality. After the fermentation settles down-which takes a
week or two-the barrels are topped up and aged undisturbed for
seven months before bottling.
THE WINE
The sauvignon blanc we
make is a distinctive expression of McGinley Vineyard. Some who
are accustomed to a more bland style might be startled by its
wild personality; however, we love its in-your-face style.
All of our sauvignon blancs
from this vineyard have aged well; even the first one we made
in 1998 is fresh, alive, and interesting today. I personally like
sauvignon blancs best when they are about two years old although
there is something intriguing about them as they near age ten.
THE NAME
People seem confused about
the name of this vineyard, so here is the explanation: A few years
ago Westerly Vineyard was bought by Jack McGinley, thus the name
change. The old name for the vineyard, Westerly, was kept by the
sellers because they had started a wine label with that same name,
one that they still sell today. Coastal Vineyard Care, the company
that planted the vineyard, continues to farm the site meticulously.
The 2009 Sauvignon Blanc
McGinley Vineyard marks our 12th vintage working with this vineyard
and we are thrilled with its engaging personality. Check it out
along with our other Fall offerings!
Adam Tolmach
2009 SAUVIGNON BLANC MCGINLEY
Santa Ynez Valley
The 2009 is in the distinctive
style we've pioneered here at The Ojai Vineyard. It is an unapologetic
rendition that displays the fruit personality from this vineyard,
grown in extraordinarily poor, shale soil. The wine has the same
herbal nerviness and zippy acidity that previous vintages possess.
As always, we farm to keep the crop in our areas to about half
that of the other blocks at McGinley, giving us a wine that is
more minerally and more intensely flavored. The major change in
vineyard cultural practices has been the switch to organic farming.
Press Reviews:
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“The 2009 Sauvignon Blanc McGinley emerges from the glass with varietal aromatics of tomato leaf, sage and mint in a bold if slightly unusual style. McGinley is a warmer microclimate on the eastern side of the Santa Ynez Valley, which comes through in the wine’s body and depth. The Sauvignon was aged in French oak and the malolactic fermentation was blocked.” ( 89 Points )
Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar
“Light, greenish gold. Spicy grapefruit and green apple scents are complicated by white pepper and herbs. Lively and powerful on the attack, then relatively sweet and open in the mid-palate, offering juicy citrus and succulent herb flavors and sneaky spiciness. Finishes with solid grip and a whiplash of dense citrus fruit. Tolmach said that the crop this year was very low, which no doubt accounts for this wine's flavor intensity.” ( 90 Points )
2009 Sauvignon Blanc One Sheet
Hi Resolution Bottle Shot
Hi Resolution Label