2023 Napa Valley Albariño

The 2023 Hill Family Estate Albariño comes from the Stewart Ranch in the south Napa Estuary, and the Dunlap Vineyard off Los Carneros Avenue. 2023 had plenty of rain, saturated soil profiles and nice warm roller coaster temperatures without ever getting hot. The season started late, with bud break in the first week of April. Bloom was prolonged, with some mildew pressure going into the first week of June, and veraison was at 50% around August 12. The Albariño was harvested on September 21 in great shape at 21.5 Brix. Esprit and Alba Fria, two of the new “sleeping beauty” yeasts were used, and the juice was fermented in stainless steel tanks. After dryness, the wine was racked to a stainless steel tank to rest until bottling in January after a brief fining and settling. This wine is what we all want to grab at the end of the day, as they do in Portugal and Spain where it is believed to be a native grape variety. The 2023 Albariño offers aromas of pear, vanilla cookie, babcock peach and hints of lime leaf. The crisp palate has flavors of kumquat, quince and almond, with a satiny texture and refreshing finish.