Ooooh, I love this wine. Not surprising, given the great reputation of Grgich Hills.

The primary varietal of a Fumé Blanc, as I just learned from Wikipedia, is Sauvignon Blanc, which makes sense to me, given the yummy pear and grapefruit notes on the palate. A soft, toasty warmth on the nose, however, leads me to suspect that Grgich aged this wine in oak, which the winery’s tasting notes confirm – 5 months in French Oak, to be exact.

But this wine doesn’t have the smarmy, domineering butteriness of over-oaked Chardonnays – instead there is just enough to give a nice depth to the wine without sacrificing crispness. To me, overall, the impression is of a lively, complex Pinot Grigio (adjectives that are hard to come by in actual Pinot Grigios, in my limited experience. Actual wine connoisseurs/euses, please feel free to broaden my horizons.).

In sum: add Grgich to the list of Napa Valley wineries C. and I need to revisit on our next trip up there.

Tags: Grgich+Hills, Napa+Valley, Fumé+Blanc

[Disclaimer: I'm far from being a wine expert. I often find myself thinking "I know I liked/disliked that bottle, but I can't remember why," so journaling wines now and then seems like a good idea.]

I returned home late last night from a concert and found C. curled up in his leather armchair reading, with a wine glass beside him half-filled what looked at first glance like water. Turns out it was one of the wines we received in our latest order from Roshambo, a winery he discovered while working at a choir camp near Healdsburg, CA.

Before even taking a sip of the glass he poured me, I tried to get a handle on the color. This wine really is almost colorless; visually it reminded me of melted lemon sorbet, only transparent. My first few sips weren’t too memorable, but once the wine had gotten some air into it and wasn’t quite so cold I began to enjoy the flavors that developed. This is one of the more subtle Sauvignon Blancs I’ve tasted: light bodied, on the dry side, and not shouting “Citrus!” or “Tropical Fruit!” at you. Those notes are there – and they’re one of the reasons I generally gravitate to Sauv Blanc rather than the heavier whites – but they are integrated well.

C. tells me we have another bottle of this from an earlier club shipment – happy day!

Tags: Wine, Sonoma, Roshambo, Sauvignon+Blanc