First Dibs On Our Napa Valley Sauv Blanc?!
New Wines Buzz
Napa Valley’s white wines are right up there with the cherished Californian’s regions reds and we’ve brought back a vintage yet refreshingly fruity Napa Sauv Blanc to enthral your palate. Cheers!
Our ace Napa Valley white is back in stock after a long hiatus of four years and already getting off the shelf faster than an enthusiastic thoroughbred. There’s no surprise there as the newly minted vintage shows the prime American region in capital form, reminding the collective senses of why Napa Sauvignon Blanc is universally loved and, more so, why Honig has mastered the Trans-Atlantic expression of the noble French grape. Sauvignon Blanc has a relatively short chapter in America’s wine history and was somewhat harshly deemed second to Chardonnay in the pecking order. The wily and winemaker friendly grape has however held its own against its Burgundian counterpart, blazing a path and style in the epic North Coast AVA of Napa Valley that stands distinctly apart from the original Loire Valley style and the generously fruity New Zealand Savvy.
Honig is the quintessential and yet unique boutique family estate with a world footprint of impressive scale and the approach of small batch maker. Honig began its vinous journey in 1964 when the family fortuitously purchased a 68 acres prime parcel in Rutherford – Rutherford mud went to achieve cult status. While the family initially sold their grapes to wineries in the vicinity, the Honigs decided to bottle their first vintage in 1980 and Sauvignon Blanc was the family ‘s first ever wine. The estate’s odyssey towards greatness began when Michael Honig took the reins in 1984 and steered Honig from a garage winery to a top end boutique producer, deploying solar power and sustainable farming.
The resulting ferments have but obviously been sublime, vintage upon vintage. While Honig’s mainstay, Cabernet Sauvignon, borne of the precious Rutherford soil shines with near perfect polyphenolic ripeness and majestic red fruit, the Sauvignon Blanc endears with a charming palate. And the latest vintage, Honig Vineyards, Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley 2024 is no exception to that rule, drinking beautifully with citrus, herbs and acidic zip. This ideal summery white glistens with dollops of lime, peach and grapefruit to go with the contrasting tones of freshly cut grass and herbs, all of which are gently lifted like a graceful wave by exuberant acidity The wine is simultaneously elegant and rich, perfectly balanced from the gorgeous nose all the way through the lengthy, layered finish. So bring yourself a bottle of this bright and fresh vintage of Napa white that we’ve already begun to run out of and deservingly thrill the senses today.
