2020 Atlas Peak Sauvignon Blanc

The Baker Vineyard in Atlas Peak is a stony vineyard pried out of the volcanic outcrops and surrounding chaparral, with low yields and high intensity. Though this is Cabernet country, Doug decided to put in Clone 1 Sauvignon Blanc to see if we could push the limits on what Sauvignon Blanc could be. For a while, 2020 seemed like a normal growing year, though with 3 hot spells over 95 degrees, with about 40% of normal rain in winter. We had uneven bud break and bloom. The Sauvignon Blanc hit 50% veraison by July 27, though it took quite a while to really finish veraison. Normal spring and summer patterns came to a halt on August 16 with the violent thunderstorms and winds that started the LCNU fires. There was a large variation in ripeness levels and the acid was dropping, so we felt delay was not an option and it came in at 23.8 Brix, on September 8 and pressed it right away. We did a bentonite fining, then racked and inoculated with Delta yeast for barrel fermentation. Barrel fermentation creates a richer more complex palate and we stirred the barrels every other day until dryness. It stayed on the original lees for 8 months. This Sauvignon Blanc has a distinct sense of its site up on Atlas Peak, and an unusually broad range of flavors due to the variation in ripeness and will reward cellaring for 3 to 5 years, and perhaps many more.