Slightly turbid clear with a breath of canary. Peach fuzz and honeydew in a clean carrier at 50°; butter starts climbing into bed at 52° and by 55° a full green-briar funk is laying out toasty ripe applesauce with an angel’s-brush of pie-spice.
I think neither Donald Patz, Francois Villard OR Alder Springs need an introduction. We’re all following along Dr. Pinot’s post-pinot adventures, with an exclusive Napa cab being one project of at least three I can count. Here’s another–a colab with Villard. I tasted this earlier in the year at Hospice du Rhone and it was one of my favorite whites of the day.
In the mouth, the headiness undeniably Rhone white varieties comes on early and strong. This is not Chard or Viognier. Respectfully fat as a South France grape should be, but tempered with the Northern Rhone crispness Mendocino easily delivers. The oxide and stone really show at cooler temperatures, with bitter edginess coupled perfectly to the floral and melon. As it warms and breathes, a woody piquantness gives sharp air to velvety richness and glycerine.
A white you won’t soon forget, roiling in fruit and acid, but that Rhone seriousness anchors everything. I don’t know who much of this was made, but definitely something to grab.
2017 TERMINIM ‘Cepages d’Or’ MS/RS 66/34 Alder Springs Mendocino County 13.5
Stephen McConnell 