If you go through and read enough winery websites, you will see a similar thread where the producer is selling the proposition that there is no place like their site for whatever it is that they make. In the absolute sense that is true, but in the reality of tasting as many wines as we do, the differences are generally not all that dramatic. But the Bennett Valley in Sonoma is one of those places where the claim has exceptional merit. We recall some of the early examples of Sauvignon Blanc from Matanzas Creek when it was still run by the original owners. The fruit component was distinctive, unique and quite delicious.
As we have tasted through California Sauvignon Blancs through the years, there have been many fine examples, but only a handful that have set the bar. The most memorable was one called Grey Stack Sauvignon Blanc Rosemary’s Block that pretty much set us on our collective ear and got more attention from the media at that point than any Sauvignon of its time.
This was a dynamic mouthful, notably rich and palate stimulating, with a brilliant beam of acidity and tight focus, but at the same time juicily textured flavors of fig, apricot, grapefruit, and honeydew melon along with some floral notes and Loire-like notes of flint. Long, pure, and remarkably expressive, tasting this 2016, which is apparently the first release by a newly formed partnership, we were immediately transported back to those remarkable efforts that were pulling down 92-94 point reviews back around 2010.
We hadn’t seen the label for a while, nor had there been any reviews save some pretty tepid ones from Wine Spectator in the interim, but we are thrilled to have something back that is truly definitive for a genre. Where does the magic come from? Well we have, as we said, always noticed the uniqueness of the Bennet Valley going back a long ways. There are those that point to the particular clone used here, said to come from Collio in northeastern Italy near the Slavonian border. The winery website says it’s ‘the people’.
Our guess is some combination of ‘all of the above’. But whatever the reason, this Sauvignon is special in the way the Eric Kent we sold a while back was (half of the grapes for that wine came from this vineyard, incidentally). Special juice here, Spectator’s 90-point tout does not do this wine justice.