A wine designed for food, like lamb chops, barbecue, or maybe blackened salmon. More about fruit than wood. Very enjoyable now, but should cellar nicely for at least five years. A serious structure with a firm but not astringent tannic background provides character and will contribute to longevity. This is one beautiful and thoroughly delicious white wine.
Every sip demands another.
One hundred percent barrel-fermented, but only aged in barrel for about four months, so wood is not a major component of either bouquet or taste. Dry but fruity to the point you could imagine a bit of sweetness. Winemaker Ed Killian wants to drink it with a lime-based civiche. The winery's publicist sees it with oysters on the half-shell. What pops up as my culinary vision is an old-fashioned, Sole Veronique, with extra grapes, please.