2008 Columbia Valley Sauvignon Blanc

View Winemaker's Tasting Notes Video

Philosophy

This wine was inspired from the wines of the Loire. We have always admired the completeness of the Sancerre wines. The ability to create a white wine that showed more than just acidity to cut through spicy foods or a hot summer day. We liked the fact that Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre had that little bit extra. A wine that you could sit and deconstruct, or sit on your patio and enjoy. We aimed to produce a wine for the conoseur and the consumer alike. The Stillwater Creek Sauvignon Blanc is certainly a wine to be taken seriously, for we often hear people mention they don't like Sauvignon Blanc but they certainly like this. 

Growing Season

We went through budbreak 7-10 days late in most of our vineyards, pushing us to make decisions to help catch up. We had moderate warmth through the summer and a slightly cooler August and early September. Luckily we had a decent Indian summer and that allowed us to obtain maturity in just about everything for the vintage. In all I think this will end up being a better vintage than 2007 across the board due to the fact that we had more control in all of our vineyards.

 

Winemaking

This wine was fermented in our concrete eggs as well as stainless steel and a small amount was barrel fermented, although only about 10% of the barrel fermented made it into the final blend. We didn't fine the wine this year as we had no real need to, but we did sterile filter before bottling. This wine is much closer to the goal of a Sancerre styled wine so ideally I would wait 6-8 months before opening to allow the aromatics to develop. Consumed early it will show lots of pineapple and minerality but will develop deeper tropical fruits as well as lemon rind and key lime with a little more age. The palette with time will also allow the texture that this vineyard is known for, to balance well with the minerality.

 

Winemaker's Tasting Notes

A piercing nose beginning with pineapple core, guava and passion fruit, I’m hesitating to swirl the glass because I don’t want to disturb these stunning aromatics. After exhibiting some of the most intense tropical fruits I have ever encountered, the wine moves to grapefruit, lemon zest and an ethereal stone-like minerality. At first taste the vibrancy of the palette is perfectly toned down with the amazing texture of this vineyard. Most people who experienced the 2007 vintage of this, commented, “This isn’t like the Sauvignon Blanc that I’m used to.” This wine builds on that sentiment, with exploding minerality on the back of your palette, followed by a silken finish. If that isn’t enough the wine turns to honeydew melon on the nose after warming up, almost poking fun at the fact that your glass is almost gone.