This is easily THE most Chardonnay-ish Sauv-Blanc you will ever see. I even assumed from the bottle it was Chard a couple weeks ago when I grabbed it to share with a group of friends heavy into Chardonnay & Chablis. Smelling it.. Tasting it… and WAIT A MINUTE! turned the bottle around… and oh OOPS! Not sure what the Semillon quotient is–but guessing a GOOD chunk–possibly near half/half. Clear, semi-viscous light canary in the glass, with impressive legs and an opulent nose. Rich toasty browned butter, leesy with powerful caramel, stewed-apple and woodsy nuances, fruit a thick pear and melon with pineapple providing some tangy sparkle. Creamy and honey-ridden, with plentiful air some of the classical fragrance of SB drifts in–but you have to be looking for it.
Tasting it brings a lot more varietal typicity into focus. An early attack of more rich toastiness evolves quickly to sharp, acid-driven vegetal: weedy and green with shards of Meyer lemon and grapefruit building a mineralific core. Golden Delicious, banana and chalky kiwi plump things up–helped along by plentiful neutral oak easing you gently into plenty of tannin. An obvious skin-contact ingredient churns the structure, though not harshly. An extremely interesting white wine: elegant and refined and rather luxurious throughout.
2020 BYRON BLATTY ‘Aurora’ SB/Sem 60/40 Los Angeles Co. South Coast California 14.3
Stephen McConnell 