KATHY’S CORNER

If you like complex aromatics and if you cherish silky, mouth filling wines, then Hunnysuckle is for you. Take off your blinders, alter your expectations, and welcome a wine that celebrates the Bordeaux tradition of presenting Sauvignon Blanc in its luscious expression. We cultivate and harvest ripe, juicy fruit, barrel ferment and barrel age in fine grain, French oak barrels, bottle when the sweet spot of extraction is perfectly balanced, and then allow the wine to rest and evolve to textural perfection. This wine expresses way more than simple fruit. It screams complex aromatics and serious, persistent spice, and it delivers pure pleasure to the palate. It’s no wonder that our finest restaurant accounts embrace what I consider to be a personal favorite find in the cellar.

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THE VINEYARDS & THE VINTAGE

• It’s a privilege to work with the finest vineyards in eastern Santa Ynez Valley: Stolpman in Ballard Canyon, and Westerly and Vogelzang in Happy Canyon. I proudly partner with these perfectionist growers to custom-farm our demarcated blocks to strict specifications; we give the utmost attention to vertical shoot positioning, leaf and lateral shoot thinning, deficit irrigating, small crop loads, and of course, to having a crew on call to pick at the perfect moment.

• This far eastern region of the Santa Ynez Valley boasts warm, sunshine-filled days which promote ripe, tropical flavors and where the cool crisp evenings recover and preserve the natural grape acidity. A most necessary climatic detail for this non-malolactic styled wine.

• Vintage 2003 marked the first year in our new Lompoc facility with equipment selected for its gentle handling of grapes optimally grown. Picked on the basis of flavor, and hand sorted in the field as the first pick of the day in the cool morning hours.

• Harvest dates: September 2-5, 2003

THE WINE

• Exhibits a plethora of dried fruits and savory spice - delicate aromas of honeydew melon, stone fruit, dried figs, nutmeg, fennel and sage.

• Memorable for its concentrated aromatics and distinct creamy textures; this wine brags the ultimate in food and wine marriage.

• The French oak influence is surprisingly disguised as sweet and savory nuances. Terrifically mouth-filling, with a most pleasurable and expansive finish.

• Fermented and aged in our favorite, tight-grain, Damy French oak barrels that weave their spice slowly and elegantly into the finished wine. 100% new oak, and finished non-malolactic. Just 265 cases produced.

• Alexander Payne’s personal selection for Sideways fame, the wine that Miles and Maya so lovingly approve of “the little hints of clove” uniquely resulting from “twelve months in oak”.