As California winemakers look for grape varieties more tolerant to drought and heat, plantings of a rare French grape native to the Languedoc region of southern France are likely to rise. Picpoul Blanc, with only 48 acres bearing fruit in the state, has great growing potential, according to Paso Robles winemaker Jason Haas.

His winery, Tablas Creek Vineyard, was the first in California to work with the variety, after importing cuttings from France in 1995. “You can let the grapes hang a long time, so they develop tropical characters like piña colada — and they’ll still have super-bright acid.”

For a grape few have heard of in the U.S., Picpoul Blanc has a surprising number of superfans — especially here in Sonoma County, where winemakers are embracing its vibrant, racy edge (“picpoul” means “sting the lip” in French). At Marine Layer Wines in Healdsburg, winemaker Rob Fischer was “immediately intrigued” when he learned the owners of Three Oaks Farm on Sonoma Mountain had grafted about an acre and a half of Syrah over to Picpoul Blanc in 2022.

At Three Oaks Farm, the Picpoul is planted mid-slope, where cool temperatures can push ripening into October.

“You just have to be patient,” says Fischer. “It can express itself as a generic white grape, until it turns a corner late in the season when the acid drops and it develops these nice citrus flavors. That’s when I know we’re in action.”

In a region flooded with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Fisher commends Sonoma County winegrowers for planting less common varieties like Picpoul Blanc. “I live in Napa, but I love the fact you can grow so many different varieties in Sonoma County,” he says. “I’m really excited to see growers experimenting with these fringe varieties.”

Compared to Sonoma County, which has just 4 acres of Picpoul Blanc, the Lodi wine region of San Joaquin Valley has a whopping 12. That’s where winemaker Blair Guthrie of Guthrie Family Wines in Sonoma sources fruit. For his 2023 Faux Picpoul Blanc ($28), Guthrie picked relatively early to maintain the variety’s “electric acidity and lively pop.” As for the wine’s name, “Faux” — don’t be fooled. Guthrie’s wine is 100% Picpoul Blanc.

Winemaker William Allen has been producing a Picpoul Blanc at Two Shepherds Winery in Windsor since 2018, with fruit sourced from the little-known Windmill Vineyard in Yolo County’s Dunnigan Hills. “Our wine lives up to the name ‘lip stinger,’ but it also has texture and depth, which makes it great with oysters and crab,” he says.

In 2021, Allen went out on a limb and also made a sparkling canned wine called Natty Pets, a blend of Picpoul Blanc and Grenache Blanc. About 35% of the Picpoul was skin-fermented, which gave the wine a light orange hue.

“We launched it as a sparkling orange wine and everyone went ga-ga over it,” says Allen. “We doubled production of the wine last year, and we still sold out.”

Like others, Allen believes Picpoul Blanc is exceptionally well-suited to California’s Mediterranean climate.

“People need to stop planting Chardonnay in California and start planting Picpoul Blanc,” he says. “It loves the heat, it’s not prone to rot or mildew, it bears good yields and is easy to grow. It’s perfect for Picpoul.”

This story was originally published in The Press Democrat. Read the full story here.

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It’s no secret that Trader Joe’s is a favorite among foodies on a budget, but what about wine lovers in search of a steal? Sure, you can always count on finding a great deal at TJ’s (the grocery store’s most popular wine brand “Charles Shaw” is aptly nicknamed “Two-Buck Chuck”) but discerning wine drinkers might worry about the quality. As it turns out, there’s no reason to turn your oenophile nose up at Trader Joe’s wine selection if you know what you’re looking for – there are even local labels on the shelves! To aid my fellow wine lovers, I headed to the Cleveland Avenue store to check out their current selection of Sonoma County wines. Click through the gallery for my spring 2019 favorites. 

The post The Best Sonoma County Wines at Trader Joe’s, Spring 2019 Edition appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

Summer is ending, fall is around the corner and life is more hectic than ever. Like any hard-working wine lover, when I head home after a long hectic day, I just want to pop open (or unscrew) a bottle of wine and serve myself a pat on the back in a glass.

My go-to wine is sauvignon blanc. It’s refreshing, light, inexpensive, low alcohol, and easy to drink. Whether you sip it after a long day at work, enjoy a glass before the kids come home from school, or cook up a hearty dinner for hungry vineyard workers, sauvignon blanc will satisfy everyone.

Here’s a selection of Sonoma sauvignon blancs (and three Napa options) to make your go-to house wine this summer and fall.

SAUVIGNON BLANC STANDARDS

Dry Creek Vineyards 2016 Fumé Blanc, Sonoma County ($15)
Don’t let the “Fumé” fool you – clever winery marketers started calling sauvignon blanc “Fumé Blanc” after sauv blanc gained a bad reputation in the 1960s for, to simply put it, tasting like crap. Dry Creek Vineyards jumped on the Fumé train in 1972 and has been making a tasty sauv blanc dressed as a Fumé Blanc ever since. Their 45th vintage has all the standards of a tasty SB: lime, lemongrass, lemon, fresh cut grass. Unscrew and pound it back with a plate of oysters. Available nationwide.

Balletto 2016 Russian River Sauvignon Blanc ($19)
Balletto’s sauvignon blanc has all you want out of this varietal: accessible, easy drinking, and well priced. It’s also one of the few 100% estate grown Russian River Valley SBs – and it’s sustainably grown! It’s crisp, on the nose and palate, with lemon and lime, Asian pear, and a touch of wet stone and lemongrass – classic notes of a white Burgundy. You get a bit of tartness, a bit of acid, and a bit of tropical fruit, making it a well-balanced liquid treat.

Beltane Ranch 2016 Estate Sauvignon Blanc Drummond Block ($29)
A sixth generation, family-owned and operated ranch in northern Sonoma Valley, Beltane Ranch has created a cult following around their sustainably grown sauvignon blanc. The Drummond Block was first planted in 1879, surrounded by farmland, orchards, and plenty of chickens. It’s an elegant SB, with a nose perfumed with lilac, lemon blossoms, and tuberose and a taste of Asian pear. This wine is balanced and is great on its own or paired with fresh seafood.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

Ty Caton 2016 Sauvignon Blanc Sonoma Valley ($26)
Kenwood winemaker Ty Caton is known for his big, bold Bordeaux blends. This is his first time making a sauvignon blanc and he knocked it out of the park. This estate wine is super refreshing and bright. It will open your eyes wide with a nose of Kefir lime and honeydew, and tickle your palate with white stone fruit and great acid. Only 282 cases. Get it.

Father & Son Wines 2016 Dayton Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc ($28)
After 16 years as winemaker at Stryker Sonoma, Tim Hardin has created a new chapter in his wine life with his new label: Father & Son Wines. His first wine is this sauv blanc, which takes me north to the Loire valley, rather than south to Bordeaux. It’s reminiscent of a sancerre, with a fresh clean nose, a touch of lemon, and an easy drinking personality. It has got a bit of lime zest, a pepperiness, and a touch of grass. This should be your new small lot patio pounder – only 4 barrels were made.

2016 Rickshaw Sauvignon Blanc ($16)
Brought to you by the fine folks at Banshee Wines, Rickshaw makes easy drinking vino at a decent price point, meaning they’re already two steps closer to making a great sauv blanc. They succeeded with their first vintage. It has a funky nose, filled with jasmine, passionfruit, and Chinese white pepper. Upon taste, this wine is filled with minerality, great acid, and a nice lemon-infused mint palate. Add a pretty label with California poppies and a screw cap on top, and it’s a perfect beach or picnic wine.

ECO-FRIENDLY PICKS

Quivira Vineyards 2016 Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Creek Valley ($18)
Sustainable, organic, biodynamic – Quivira does it all! Their current release sauvingon blanc is the best they’ve ever made – it’s a blend of grapes from various vineyards, including their estate – all from Dry Creek. It’s a clean, fruity wine with a nose of pineapple, lilac, and honeydew – all which journey over into the taste. It was the first varietal harvested last year and should be the first you open when you’re ready for a drink.

Ehlers Estate 2016 Sauvignon Blanc ($32)
Ehlers Estate’s fifth sauvignon blanc vintage is a delicious wine, and tasting good isn’t its only perk – it’s also 100% organic. Kefir lime and fresh lemon start the nose and head into the mouth with fresh herbs like rosemary and tarragon. It provides a surprise in the back of the mouth with ginger that makes it a perfect wine for spicy Nepalese or Indian food. As if this wine can’t get any better – it’s only 13.2% alcohol. Drink up.

Preston Farm & Winery 2016 Sauvignon Blanc ($22)
When the team at Preston Farm & Winery isn’t busy feeding their plethora of winery cats, they’re busy making delicious 100% organic wine. This SB is entirely fermented in stainless steel, creating a nose of honeydew melon with a touch of vanilla, and a taste of citrus, lemon, and gooseberry, the latter which gives a grassy, gingery note at the tip of the tongue. This is a super food friendly wine – pair it with Thai food or keep it simple with grilled oysters.

IMPRESS YOUR GUESTS

Cade 2016 Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley ($32)
Napa Valley is known for cabernet sauvignon, and where cab grows, sauvignon blanc thrives. Cade’s SB is a luxurious patio pounder, one you treat yourself to when you get that well-deserved raise. Its nose will send you to a babbling brook with fresh river rock and it tastes of powderly lime rind, Thai spices like lemongrass, and a bit of that fancy cucumber water served at a spa. Yes, please.

Belden Barns 2016 Estate Sauvignon Blanc ($26)
Belden Barns’ estate vineyards are located 1,000 feet above sea level, on beautiful Sonoma Mountain. It’s a special place, where grapes enjoy plenty of fog in the morning, sun drenched days, and more volcanic soil than one can shake a stick at. This SB has a haze  – it’s unfiltered, making it a great conversation starter. It has a funky, fun nose filled with grass, lychee and stone fruit. It tastes great – with a bit of savory green apples, apricots, honeydew and a long finish. A must try.

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 2016 AVETA Sauvignon Blanc ($26)
Named after the Gallo-Roman goddess of fresh spring water, Dea Aveta, this SB can be described in one word: elegant. It epitomizes old world white Bordeaux, comprising 73% sauvignon blanc, 19% sauvignon muscat, 2% semillon and 1% muscat, blending about half and half in French oak barrels and stainless steel. It fills one’s nose with guava, lemon blossom, and a bit of gooseberry, and follows through with an exceptional acidity and fresh citrus flavor. Drink now, or be bold and age a bottle for 2-4 years to see how it evolves.

INDIE SURPRISES

Passaggio 2016 Sauvignon Blanc, Zoller Vineyards, Lake County ($32)
Winemaker Cynthia Cosco is renowned for her white wines and her sauvignon blanc is no exception. The grapes come from a small vineyard (20 acres planted with vines) just a few miles south of Clear Lake, in Lake County. Cosco creates a savory sauvignon blanc that has classic notes of key lime, pineapple, Thai spices, and a touch of grass, paired with high acid. Screw cap is an added perk.

Brassfield Estate Winery 2016 Sauvignon Blanc ($17)
Brassfield Estate is one of the premier wineries in Lake County. Their estate wines are grown high on a volcanic-soil driven vineyard that presides above Clear Lake. Even cooler: this wine spends time in a big concrete egg instead of a standard wood barrel. It has a beautiful nose that smells like warm weather and fresh flowers. Upon taste, great acid coats the mouth and classic notes of guava, Asian pear, and a touch of green apple. It’s a delicious wine from a Lake County icon.

Fulcrum 2016 Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley ($30) 
With a mere 102 cases made, Fulcrum’s sauv blanc uses grapes from Calistoga to make a complex and delicious wine. Fans of fruit-focused SBs will enjoy this wine, which stars guava on both the nose and the mouth. It’s complemented with pineapple and grapefruit on the finish making for a nice wine to pair with grilled shrimp from the barbecue, tossed in lime, on a warm end-of-summer day.

A TASTE OF NAPA VALLEY

2016 Stewart Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($25)
It’s a family affair at Stewart, where two-generations operate the winery and even the winemaker, Blair Guthrie, is married to a Stewart! They make not only tasty cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir, but also sauvignon blanc. It’s a tropical, lovely wine with notes of guava and dragonfruit on the nose and lots of minerality on the mouth, which transforms from a touch of grass into kefir lime and savory orange marmalade. Yum!

2016 Cliff Lede Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley ($25)
Cliff Lede Vineyards makes big, bold wines that match the personality of owner Cliff Lede, who has named all of his vineyards after his favorite rock n’ roll songs. This wine is 82% sauvignon blanc, with 14% semillon, 3% sauvignon vert and 1% muscat, which makes for an excellent white Bordeaux crafted in Napa Valley. It has a vibrant nose, with a richness that reminded me of fresh lemon bars. It has a long finish, filled with meyer lemon, Asian pear, and light, dried cooking herbs. Food friendly for sure.

Rutherford Ranch 2016 Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley ($23)
Family-owned Rutherford Ranch was founded in 1978. The winery, nestled amongst 100-year old olive groves, makes sustainably grown wines. Their sauvignon blanc is no exception, made from grapes picked just before the fall rains ended last year’s harvest suddenly. It’s 100% stainless steel fermented, making it a refreshing wine. It offers honeydew and fresh lemon on the nose, which travels into the mouth with a hint of pink grapefruit. It’s a great wine to pair with your favorite take-out rotisserie chicken or taco truck eats.

The post 15 Easy-Sipping Sonoma Sauvignon Blancs to Drink Now appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

For me, summertime wine should be refreshing, easy to drink, and just a little funky – meaning something that stands out beyond the standard sauvignon blanc or rosé all day. 

Lately, my go-to wines have been fresh, acid-centric vinos that taste great on their own or make for a perfect pairing with snackable cheese and summer salads. So what am I drinking these days? My current obsession is grenache blanc, the white light-skinned sister of grenache. And trust me, it will be yours, too.

Grenache blanc is originally from northern Spain. It traveled across the border to France to become a Rhône varietal. It’s commonly used as a blending grape in the famous Châteauneuf-du-Pape and other red and white wines.

Eventually, it made its way to California where, in the 1990s, Paso Robles Rhône-producing icons Tablas Creek began growing grenache blanc, paving the way for other producers.

Today, it’s grown throughout California, including in Sonoma County. Despite being a hearty grape that thrives in Sonoma County’s diverse soil and regions, it’s still a ‘rare grape’ compared to other white wine varietals. It’s still used in blends, but is gaining popularity as a single varietal wine.

Grenache blanc is a fun and funky wine, often with a vibrant nose full of what can range from green notes (i.e. kefir lime, green apple) to  the kind of floral citrus notes that one might find in a viognier (i.e. honeysuckle, lemon flower). Let’s put it this way: the nose of grenache blanc will knock your socks off.

Taste wise it is often rich, sometimes viscous, making it a nice, lighter alternative for chardonnay fans. It has a moderate, nice acid and tastes mineraly and a bit spicy, sometimes with hints of cinnamon, nutmeg, again with the green apple. Yum.

Passaggio Wines is one of few Sonoma County wineries to produce a single varietal grenache blanc. This year marks the winery’s first grenache blanc vintage, which uses grapes from Matthes Vineyards, a small Rhône-focused vineyard just outside of downtown Sonoma.

“I wanted a local single vineyard varietal that went well in my portfolio,” shares Passaggio Wines winemaker and owner, Cynthia Cosco, “something unusual.” Cosco acknowledges the special nature of grenache blanc and appreciates how food friendly and distinct it is. It pairs well with briney, salty cheese like feta and halloumi, tomato or citrus salads, pork chops with apples, and spice-rubbed grilled chicken.

Lloyd Davis, owner of Corner 103 winery in Sonoma, decided to offer a grenache blanc to customers to complement his grenache, both new releases this year that he’s offered first to his wine club members. “Our club members want more diversity in their wines,” he shares, “they’re moving beyond commonplace sauvignon blancs and chardonnay, and grenache blanc provides the perfect alternative to their craving.”

So what grenache blanc should you be sipping on this summer? Here are my picks for the best wines to grab for your cooler.

Passaggio Wines 2016 Grenache Blanc ($33)
One of Sonoma County’s finest white wine producers, Passaggio Wines has taken grapes from nearby Matthes Vineyard to create a grenache blanc-based field blend with a hint (25%) of marsanne, which helps to boost the orange flower and green apple flavors of grenache blanc. Keeping with winemaker Cynthia Cosco’s style, it’s got great acidity and accessibility with its screw cap opener.

Corner 103 2016 Grenache Blanc ($30)
The most vibrant nose of all grenache blancs I tasted, Corner 103’s vino uses grapes from Alexander Valley. Its nose is lush like a viognier, full of tart grapefruit, kefir lime, gardenia, and honeysuckle. Partially unfiltered, the wine has a hazy shade. This technique helps bring out the spiced flavors of the grape, including dill, cloves and cinnamon. Only 89 cases were made of this wine and, according to the winery, only 30 are left.

Matthes Vineyards 2015 Grenache Blanc Rhône Blend ($42)
A field blend, Matthes’ estate wine comprises 68% grenache blanc and 32% marsanne. Another quality representative of grenache blanc, its nose hints at clementine, anise and green apple. Eleven months in neutral French oak adds a viscosity to the wine that lends to a lovely, silky texture in the mouth, with flavors of ripe stone fruit, wet stone and more green apple.

The post What to Drink Now: Grenache Blanc from Sonoma appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

At $17, our Wine of the Week is a steal. Trig Point 2014 Signpost Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is a beautifully made, classically California quaffer. Fans of the varietal will want to snag several bottles.

The wine is rich and succulent, with fruit ranging from baked green apples, white peaches and sweet citrus to apricots and figs, all buoyed by the wine’s diaphanous acidity and mouth-filling juiciness. On the palate, it is round and full but not cloying. This west county wine is an excellent example of cool-climate chardonnay, with flavors that blossom during a long growing season with plenty of light but not a lot of heat.

At the table, you’ll enjoy the wine with chicken, pork, veal, lobster, scallops, mussels, eggplant, winter squash, parsnips, carrots and creamy pastas. Roasted root vegetables tossed with butter, mussels steamed in the wine itself and veal chops served on a bed of steamed winter squash are all excellent matches. Oyster chowder, clam chowder and crab vichyssoise welcome the wine alongside, too.

Today’s recipe, adapted from one in “California Home Cooking” (Harvard Common Press, 1997), is inspired by our local Dungeness crab, which we are finally able to enjoy for a very brief time this spring. It’s not a great match with crab served chilled with nothing more than a squeeze of lemon, but it is outstanding when the crab is served hot with melted butter or folded into this rich bisque.

Crab Tomato Bisque
Serves 3 to 4

3 tablespoons butter
1 small yellow onion, cut into small dice
1 small celery rib, cut into small dice
— Kosher salt
½ cup dry white wine
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon minced fresh Italian parsley
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper, preferably white
3 cups chicken stock or fish stock
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
¼ cup sherry
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar, optional
— Cooked and picked meat from 1 Dungeness crab
¾ cup cream
½ cup half-and-half, plus more as needed
— Hot sourdough hearth bread

Put the butter into a large saucepan, set over medium heat, add the onion and celery and sauté until soft and fragrant, about 12 minutes; do not let the vegetables brown. Season with salt, increase the heat to high, add the wine and cook until it is nearly completely reduced.

Add the bay leaf, parsley, pepper, stock, tomatoes, sherry and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Use tongs to remove and discard the bay leaf. For a smooth soup, purée with an immersion blender.

Taste the bisque and, if it seems a bit flat, add the sugar. Add the crab, cream and half-and-half, and heat through but do not let it reach a boil. Taste again, correct for salt and pepper and thin with a little more half-and-half if too thick for your taste.

Ladle into soup plates or bowls and enjoy right away, with the hot bread alongside.

Michele Anna Jordan is author of the new “Good Cook’s” series. Email her at michele@micheleannajordan.com and visit her blog at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.

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An awful lot of wine we cellar or put in storage lockers simply does not get better with age, but why?

One of the problems we face is how to know whether a particular wine is aging well or merely getting tired.

One way is to open a bottle of which you have more than one and see how it is doing. However, that is no guarantee that the others will be fine since we have all heard the phrase “bottle variation.” The bottle we tested may be fine, but another bottle may turn out to be sadly lacking in one respect or another.

Oddly enough, the way red wines age, they get funky for a while before improving, so testing a bottle too soon may not be much of a revelation. And white wines usually are best as young as possible, although some white wines actually taste better with a little time in the cellar.

The result of all this is to create enough confusion that no rules can possibly be proposed that have any real meaning. Every wine is its own case in point.

Though we always assume that expensive red wines will be better with time in the cellar, I have long noted the utter failure of some expensive reds to taste better with even as little as a year of age.

An old friend, the wonderful late wine philosopher and author Roy Brady, wrote a marvelous essay on the topic decades ago that he entitled, “Old wine, fine wine?” His premise was that more wines do not improve than do.

The article was not widely distributed, yet for me it stands as the definitive opinion on why many supposedly great aging wines didn’t age well after years in the cellar.

We have experienced this often enough to give us pause when we consider buying larger amounts of any wine for our cellar. It is one reason I am reluctant to assert wine has potential when I cannot be certain it does.

And although there are some crucial elements in determining a wine’s potential to age, such as pH, nothing is guaranteed.

Most wine experts would agree that for a wine to age properly it must have good acidity, and that flabby wines are more likely to collapse quickly. Moreover, cellaring conditions must be pretty cool to ensure any improvement in a wine set down to age.

Decades ago, I frequented a Southern California wine store that had a special room for mature and fragile wines. It was wonderful for my education to walk in and find, in 1980, some 1973 French white Burgundies that were in splendid condition. Most of them were sublime.

Is there a set of circumstances that allows you to taste a young wine and determine it will be great with some age in the cellar? Not really. But the name of the producer plays a huge role here.

The other day my wife and I opened a newly released Napa Cabernet from a producer with a stellar track record of making age-worthy wines. It had that hard-to-define character that indicates a wine perfectly made to age.

For us, it displayed elements that will expand and will be extraordinary with time in the cellar.

It was the 2013 Corison Cabernet, Napa Valley, which follows a long line of Corison Cabs that have proven to be exemplary with age. Is it worth $90 for a bottle?

That depends on how much value potential buyers place on wines that display amazingly mature characteristics after proper aging.

Cathy Corison has always made this kind of wine, and her 2013 fits the profile perfectly. Some bottles are still available at her St. Helena tasting room on Highway 29, and fine retail shops carry it for a bit less.

Wine of the Week: 2014 Hanna Sauvignon Blanc, Russian River Valley ($19) — Cooler climates allow for Sauvignon Blanc to carry more exotic aromatics, and this wine exemplifies that, with tropical fruit notes alongside faint herbal characteristics that lead to a dramatic mouth feel and taste not unlike New Zealand wines, with so much fruit (passion fruit?) it’s hard to put down.

Often discounted below this price.

Dan Berger lives in Sonoma County, where he publishes “Vintage Experiences,” a weekly wine newsletter. Write to him at winenut@gmail.com.

The post Is Your Wine Aging Well, or Just Getting Tired? appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

This time of year is a conundrum. We have one muddy shoe in the rainy season, while the other is tap dancing under sun-kissed skies. We don’t dare leave our jackets in the hall closet … or do we? Our palates are just as confused but, in the end, can’t resist the urge to chase the wilds of spring whites. Here are five picks that include chardonnay, gewürztraminer, riesling and sauvignon blanc.

The Splurge:
Scribe, 2013 Carneros Chardonnay, 12.5% alcohol, $38. This is a yin yang chardonnay at its best. On one hand, it’s austere with crisp mineral notes and lean fruit. On the other, it’s rich, with lush texture and lingering finish. Things are often a contradiction in terms. This chardonnay proves it beautifully. It’s knockout.

$25 and Under White Wonders:
Clif Family, 2014 Dry Gewürztraminer, 13.9%, $25. What a melding of flavors. It all begins with aromas of honeysuckle, then moves on to peach, grapefruit and spice on the palate. Crisp finish. Just lovely.

Castello di Amorosa, 2014 Ferrington Vineyard, Anderson Valley Gewurztraminer, 14.5 percent, $25. This gewürztraminer is vibrant, with great minerality. Layered with notes of grapefruit, lemon zest and herbs. Refreshingly dry.

Kung Fu Girl, 2014 Evergreen, Columbia Valley, Washington Riesling, 12 percent, $12.

This wine has an incredible range. Aromas and flavors of bright apricot, mango and mineral. Crisp acidity. Nice length. It’s a steal.

Angeline, 2014 Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc, 13.8 percent alcohol, $15. This sauvignon blanc is racy; it has crisp acidity and tangy fruit, aromas and flavors of lime, mango and kiwi. It’s balanced, bright, lively and clean. This sauvignon blanc is striking, a smart buy, particularly at this price point.

The post Five Spring White Wines to Enjoy in Sonoma County appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.