2011 Two Old Dogs Sauvignon Blanc
Winemaking Notes
Our Two Old Dogs Sauvignon Blanc style has always been unique; it’s not overly ripe and creamy like some barrel fermented wines, nor is it grassy, tart and linear like many of the New Zealand wines. The 2011 Two Old Dogs Sauvignon Blanc is wonderfully well balanced, bright, fruity and refreshing – a very California-style wine, meant to share with friends and a light meal.
Winemaker Michael Trujillo says “The 2011 Two Old Dogs Sauvignon Blanc shows youthful nuances of tropical fruits - bananas, pineapple, and kiwi - as well as richer characteristics of melon, white peach, pink grapefruit and guava. Especially in this vintage, as the wine ages and breathes, it will continue to evolve in the bottle from fresh and racy to more lush and creamy. The riper fruit flavors from the vintage will come into focus, highlighting white peach and nectarine and by the end of summer give a richness with layers to the wine.”
Ultimately, the wine paired with your favorite meal with friends - a plate of local fruit and cheese, BBQ’d oysters or crab cakes with a lemon aioli, a light summer salad of citrus and spicy greens - is the true measure of its success. Try this Sauvignon Blanc as it ages in successive seasons - as a crisp glass of tropical fruits, a refreshing sipping wine in the summer heat, and in the warmth of late autumn as the wine rounds out and becomes richer and creamier. And by the time another spring rolls around, we’ll have another amazing vintage to offer.
Vintage Notes
When we began our Sauvignon Blanc winemaking project in 2005, we wanted to take the same philosophy for the new varietal that we had for decades with our own Cabernet Sauvignon; to allow the vineyard and seasons of the grape to determine the ultimate wine style. In choosing the Mello vineyard in Yountville, we strived for a blend of flavors that would best express the vineyard characteristics, and chose several rows each of the 376, 530 and Sauvignon Musque clones. We are grateful to this successful blend of different flavors, especially in a difficult growing season such as 2011.
Because of the extremely cool growing conditions in the Napa Valley in 2011, even more so than the previous vintage, the crop levels were down considerably and the berries and bunches even smaller in size. We were patient and picked a full month later than normal, on September 26 th, to allow the grapes to ripen totally, and were blessed with a refreshing wine whose flavors are enticing and harmonious; a wine that is well balanced even at a lower alcohol.
Technical Data
| Alcohol: | 12.9% |
| Composition: | 1100% Sauvignon Blanc – 1/3 each clones 376, 530 and Sauvignon Musque |
| Appellation: | Napa Valley |
| Fermentation: | Stainless steel |
| Vineyards: | Stainless steel tanks and neutral oak barrels |
| Cases Produced: | 600 |
