The 2016 sauvignon blanc from Vigilance is not shy.
Other labels may dash in and out of relationships, flirting sweetly or finishing with a flippant toss. But no, the Vigilance prefers to engage, to flaunt its terroir, to share its Red Hills largess.
“It’s a mouthful of flavor,” said Shannon Ridge/Vigilance winemaker Joy Merrilees. “We’ve gotten a lot of good comments.”
Why not? It bounds forward, embracing you with the lingering warmth of fall — aromas of cider, freshly milled from golden delicious apples flow, drenching a more mellow note of ripe pear. While the fruits play, a more earnest character emerges, offering a balance of minerality and tropical fruit, cured and dusted with dry spice.
A sip revives the bright, fruity spirit. Peeled apples, lush and juicy, race ahead of brisk ripe pears. The fruits are bold, yet lean — somehow reveling in vibrant, swirling motion without the drag of that supine, sweet partner that sometimes tags along.
Again, however, there is a clever turn. An undertone of rustic minerality, of dried lemongrass, chaperones the buoyant fruit. Although fresh, brisk, overly confident and perhaps a bit capricious, the fruits never go off on a fling. Instead they slow, developing measure.
This shows on the finish, with a rich tang of pineapple. And despite the flurry, the intense fruits, it is a very dry and crisp wine.
“It’s that Red Hills fruit,” Merrilees pointed out.
The volcanic soil drains readily. The vineyard faces the sun, further parching the vineyard. Merrilees explains that the actions of terroir — of land and weather — condense the flavors, even as they hasten the ripening process.
“We pick around 22 and a half brix, ferment it — that’s it,” she said.
Left alone, the wine clearly learns to gain attention on its own. No wonder it has proven to be such a popular sauvignon blanc, vintage after vintage.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
