Clos Saron "Carte Blanche" 2017 California

750ml bottle

12.1% abv

VARIETIES: Albariño & Verdeho with a touch of Sauvignon Blanc
VINEYARDS: Albariño & Verdeho from Bokisch Vineyards in Lodi. Soils here are volcanic, gravely clay loam. Sauvignon Blanc is own-rooted from Clos Saron Vineyards in Sierra Foothills. Soils are clay-loam over fractured granite and volcanic ash.
VINE AGE: 10 to 30 years old
FARMING: Organic
WINEMAKING: All grapes foot stomped whole cluster and co-fermented. 6 days on stems and skins. Aged in neutral barrels. No SO2.

Like many of Gideon's wines, this is similar to a number of familiar wines types, but completely unique. It has some orange wine notes, but doesn't go all the way down that road. It is natty to be sure, perhaps the wine displaying the most classic natural wine character due to the no SO2, but it still retains a classic feel that many natural wines eschew. There is lovely texture and a slight nuttiness but also tight acidity and bright aromatics. The fruit is predominantly sourced from Bokisch vineyards in Lodi. Gideon has chosen an extremely hard road farming where and how he farms and yields are nearly always a problem. Sourcing fruit has allowed him to continue his quest without becoming (too) destitute. The wine is treated like all of his wines, which is to say everything co-fermented, nothing destemmed and very little intervention. He likes to say that he only has to make a couple decisions - when to pick and when to bottle.