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Wine Recommendation
Steltzner Vineyards
2005 Sauvignon Blanc(California)
This is yet another example of the Californians giving up the ghost of putting their Sauvignon Blancs on oak; and following the example of the New Zealanders. A half-a-dozen years out with this philosophy, however, what we have here is a decidedly Napa Valley SB in that New Zealand can’t come close to matching the valley’s fruit. I’ve said for a while now, that Napa Valley Sauvignons are not to be trifled with.
Sure the wine exhibits lots of grassy notes both in the nose and on the palate, but then sweet lemon-lime kicks in at mid-palate and the wine finishes very stylishly and elegantly with beautiful balance; this, despite the fact that the listed alcohol is 14.9 percent. That’s quite high for a white wine (only in the Napa Valley?), but I didn’t detect it. The acidity, on the other hand, brings up the rear and closes out the wine with a lovely palate-cleansing wash.
Sixty percent of the blend comes from Steltzner’s Oak Knoll estate northwest of the city of Napa, while the remainder is from farther north from the Sawyer Vineyard in Lake County.
Reviewed March 23, 2007 by Alan Goldfarb.
Other reviewed wines from Steltzner Vineyards
 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon, Estate (Stags Leap District ~ Napa Valley)Alan Goldfarb 4/11/2007 |
The Wine
Winery: Steltzner Vineyards |
The Reviewer
Alan Goldfarb
Alan Goldfarb has been writing about and reviewing wine for 17 years. His reviews have been published in the St. Helena Star, San Jose Mercury, San Francisco Examiner, Decanter, and Wine Enthusiast, among others. Not once has he used a point system, star system, or an iconic symbol to quantify a wine. What counts in Mr. Goldfarb’s criteria when judging a wine is: how it tastes in the glass; is it well-constructed; its food compatibility; and presence of redeeming regional attributes. |