When it comes to Sauvignon Blanc, Lake County winemakers are blessed. The vines clearly respond to trying climbs and scarred terroir, and they require little more than harvest and a spell in stainless steel to show peak fruit.
Or so it would seem.
You see, winemakers know an ill-timed squall, an errant frost, a torrid stretch — any of the spiteful tricks occasionally played by weather can dim an entire vintage. They also understand the vagaries of the market. Popular tastes rush and wane, distant competitors appeal and an entire season may turn on a whim.
It’s also more fun to nudge the wine one way or another, adding personal flair through the introduction of oak, perhaps.
In 2014 the crew at Red Lava Vineyards decided to blend their Sauvignon Blanc.
Well, in a way.
Instead of selecting grapes from different vineyards they simply worked the same plot over several weeks, picking one batch as it strained toward peak ripeness, another at the perfect mark and again as fall approached and the needle wavered.
Red Lava’s Kristi Lawson calls the method “blending with the same fruit.”
The result is a complex Sauvignon Blanc that flirts with you — challenges you — from the beginning. On the nose it offers a familiar tropical wink of guava and citrus. It then turns aside, leaving a unique sensation of whole, uncut pineapple alongside butterscotch candy, still in the wrapper.
These are the aromas of temptation and wanting, of forbidden fruit.
As with any Sauvignon Blanc, you notice the lithe body as it hastened across your palate. The wine is fresh and crisp — and after that first bright burst, this charming aspect draws scant attention. You are too distracted by the wealth of fruit cascading from the glass.
Kiwi, lime zest, pineapple and lemon toss in a pleasing bacchanal. As the carousel continues to spin, sliced red apple joins in. A tropical sensation leads into the finish, still laden with brisk fruit.
It’s as if Red Lava pressed an entire bowl into the bottle.
“It’s surprising the number of fruits you find in that wine,” Lawson observed with a laugh. “I can drink a lot of it — and having a screw top makes it too easy.”
Indeed, the 2014 Sauvignon Blanc from Red Lava is an appealing, friendly wine. It is willing to cavort, to show off its fresh flavors. But sipping it you realize indiscreet tropical fruits lurking around the edges. You sense a creamy, clinging nature the wine struggles to conceal.
A lot happens under the whisk of a summer wine.
Lawson attributes the 2014’s unique character to the blending process and a drought not yet strong enough to clutch local vines.
“It’s just the growing season,” she said.
Well, all the winemakers have to do is pick Lake County Sauvignon Blanc and bottle it, right? Of course, things aren’t always as they seem.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
