2013 Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc
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Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
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Spottswoode's 2013 Sauvignon Blanc is bright, floral and perfumed. Lemon peel, white flowers and mint are all laced together in a pretty, crisp wine that will drink well for the next handful of years.
Over 70% of the fruit for the 2013 Sauvignon Blanc Estate comes from Sonoma. It reveals surprising flavor intensity with lots of melon, fig, flint and mineral characteristics. Medium-bodied but surprisingly intense and rich, this dry, crisp white is one of the better Sauvignons made in Northern California. Drink it over the next several years.
(bottled just prior to my visit): Bright lemon-yellow color. Vibrant nose combines pineapple, lemon, aromatic herbs, grass, anise and peppermint. At once ripe and pliant and energetic, displaying good grip to the flavors of white peach, green melon and cassis bud. Finishes dry and classic, with good length. Winemaker Aron Weinkauf noted that 2013 was a challenging vintage as the sugar accumulation came before flavor development, "but luckily the temperatures cooled off toward the end."
About the producer
Spottswoode is one of those rare Napa estates whose reputation rests less on volume or spectacle than on persistent exactitude. Set on the western edge of St Helena, where the Mayacamas rise and afternoon breezes temper the valley’s warmth, the vineyard occupies a favoured pocket of the appellation.