Pulling The Cork

2007 Clayhouse Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc

About a month ago I did a Taste & Talk on the 2006 Clayhouse Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc.  When I tasted that vintage and posted my tasting note I mentioned I would also do a video tasting note on the 2007 vintage.  When I went to to pull the wine to prepare for the video I realized that I had given my last bottle to a client as a gift and mistakenly forgot to remove it from my cellar in Cellartracker. Thankfully the good people at Clayhouse, specifically Rusty Eddy, - Communications Director at Vintage New World who handles marketing for Clayhouse, read about my stupidity and sent out a bottle of the 2007 for Pulling The Cork.  In the interest of full disclosure that makes this a sample though if you have been hanging out with us you know we say it like it is around here regardless of how we acquire a wine.   

I am about to kick the proverbial dead horse again but no tasting note is complete without putting it into context with the region, vineyard, terroir, history, winery, wine maker etc. so please click here to read all about Clayhouse and their wines.  Here is the video tasting note followed by some important information on the 2007 vintage and bottling (the technical sheet from Clayhouse in .pdf) as well as our written tasting note and score.

Some Background Info

The grapes for the 2007 Sauvignon Blanc came from Block 12 of Clayhouse's Red Cedar Vineyard outside Paso Robles which is mostly shale and sandstone soil.  Harvested between August 15 and October 4, 2007 the whole cluster of grapes were given some contact time with the skins to give the wine some more character and the pressed juice was fermented cool at temperatures between 52 and 58 degrees (since we are in America we use Fahrenheit). 

The wine was aged in stainless steel tanks with 2% being barrel fermented before being bottled in mid March of 2008.  The final blend includes 7% Chenin Blanc 2% Roussanne and is 14% ABV.  Total production was 3,600 cases.

Tasting Note - The Non-Video Old School Written Version

2007 Clayhouse Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Clear, bright and pale straw with a touch of green in color. The nose was full of pineapple, Granny Smith apple, peach, fresh flowers, fresh cut grass (the flowers and grass coming from the Chenin Blanc in the blend).  A very nice nose with just a touch of baking spice in the bouquet (the Roussanne). The flavor profile was more pineapple, green apples and peach with some lemon zest, orange blossom and stone like minerality. Very alive with acidity making this refreshing and mouthwatering but it is nicely balanced. The finish is moderate with tropical fruit, flowers and peach remaining on the palate as it finished. This is a very good wine for the price and is an easy every day summer drinking wine. Recommend this highly and drink it now! 50+5+12+16+5=88 pts (click here to learn more about what these number mean)

Without question I recommend this wine as it offers really great quality for the price.  Go get ya' some!

 

2006 Clayhouse Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc

It's summer and it seems appropriate to pop something "seasonally appropriate", if there is such a thing, after Rob's double dose of reds from Switchback Ridge.  Today I am going to share my thoughts and notes on the 2006 Clayhouse Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc.  I know the 2007 is the newest release (the picture to the right is the 2007) and I plan to provide a tasting note for it as soon as I can get around to tasting it.  I also have to track it down because I thought I had it in my cellar and just discovered last night I gave it away as a gift to a business colleague of mine.  Oops, shame on me for not entering that into Cellartracker!

I first became aware of Clayhouse wines in 2005 when a friend of mine in the recruiting business recommended I try out their 2003 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (the first vintage for Clayhouse and one of their first wines I believe) and it was impressive enough that I looked into their other wines.  I will bottom line it for you, I really do enjoy almost every wine in the Clayhouse repertoire.

NOTE: I believe that any tasting note should be put into context with information about the region, climate, geography, vineyard, winery and winemakers.  Without this information I believe any review or tasting note is incomplete and, to be perfectly honest, less interesting.  That said, I know some people just want to get right to the wine and the tasting note.  If that is you, scroll to the bottom to get the tasting note and data sheet. 

Regional Information

Clayhouse Vineyards is in the Paso Robles AVA (American Viticultural Area), the heart of California's Central Coast, which was established in 1983 and later expanded in 1997.  It is the fastest growing and largest geographical AVA with more than 26,000 acres planted to vineyards and almost 170 wineries calling it home.  The name comes from the native oak trees, El Paso de Robles - the pass of the oaks (I didn't know that, I had to look it up), which was shortened to Paso Robles when California gained independence from Mexico in 1850 (I am a history geek, what I can say?). 

Wine grapes were first planted in Paso Robles in 1797 by Franciscan missionaries for use in sacramental wine and European farmer immigrants revived the old missionary plantings in the 1860's after that whole historical independence thing I mentioned above.

The Climate

Summer growing season is warm and clear without much interference from mother nature (wind, fog, clouds etc.) with daytime high temperatures ranging from 85-105 degrees Fahrenheit and nighttime lows between 40-50 degrees.  Harvest time in the fall is warm and relatively rain free with rainy season starting in November (8-45 inches annually), about two weeks later then the better known AVA's Sonoma and Napa Valley.  Winter temperatures can plunge into the 20's and the vines go to bed (dormant) completely by mid December.  Frost is still possible in to mid-May which may surprise some people who noted the serious heat of the summer above.  I live in Michigan so frost in July is a distinct possibility.   

Vineyard and Grapes

The grapes come from Clayhouse's 1,500 acre Red Cedar Vineyard, one of the largest contiguous vineyards in the Central Coast, which is divided into 30 individually farmed blocks planted with Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Malbec, Zinfandel and Petit Sirah.

The Winery and Wine Makers

Clayhouse is named for the 150 year old adobe building (clay-get it?) that sits on the edge of the Red Cedar Vineyard.  The new Clayhouse tasting room opened up in downtown Paso Robles in January of this year. 

Rick Middleton is the Proprietor and he comes from a family with a four generation long history in agriculture.  He and his family started Clayhouse wines in 2003.

David Frick is the wine maker and he can trace his lineage back to 1635 through seven generations of wine growers.  He honed his wine making skills in Napa Valley at well highly regarded Trefethen Vineyards and Spring Mountain Vineyard.  The wines are produced at Courtside Cellars Winery outside of San Miquel.

Vineyard Manager is Mike Clay who was born into agriculture in the Central Valley (do you see a theme developing here?) so he knows the soil, climate and character of the soil at Red Cedar better than anyone could.  He knows the soil and the grapes are in control which is something he learned from working with high profile wine makers Ed Sbragia, Chuck Ortman and Christian Rogenaunt. 

Ok, without further ado, let's taste the wine!

2006 Clayhouse Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc (that link is to the technical or data sheet for the wine supplied by Clayhouse if you like that sort of thing - I do!)
A good, solid  and easy drinking Sauvignon Blanc for the summer. Very pale straw with a green tinge on the edge. Pleasing nose of citrus, pineapple, green apple, grapefruit and peach on the nose.  I also detected a  hint of pear which I found really interesting in a good way.  The aroma wasn't intense but present.  Bright and lively acidity, a nice attribute for a summer wine, marked a light mouth feel with melon, pineapple, grapefruit and general citrus notes. A refreshingly moderate finish with residual ripe citrus, green apple and baking spice flavors.  A nice SB that showed good balance and moderate complexity.  Drink 'em if you got 'em because I don't think they will last much longer.  50+5+12+16+6= 89 pts. (see Tasting Notes and Scoring to know what these number mean.)

I paid $16.49 a bottle for this wine and a year ago it was pretty available for $13.99 to $17.99 as Clayhouse had a 3,600 case production.  At that price point this is an excellent wine.  Looking forward to tasting and sharing my thoughts on the 2007 vintage...as soon as I can get my hands on it! 

2007 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc

I would normally reject drinking a crisp white wine in late February with the temperature below 35 degrees consistently.  Crisp whites, such as this Sauvignon Blanc I recently tasted, are normally reserved for those warm summer days and nights.  My CellarTracker drinkability report (more to come on this) was telling me I was way behind consuming this during its peak so I had to give it whirl. 

I am not a HUGE SB fan, I have to be in the mood for it, but I do enjoy those SB's with nice acidity, some good minerality and a strong grapefruit nose and flavor profile. 

Cloudy Bay takes its name from the bay at the eastern extremity of the Wairau Valley, which was named Cloudy Bay by Captain Cook on his voyage to New Zealand in 1770.  The vineyard and winery was established in 1985 by Cape Mentelle Vineyards in Western Australia, and is today part of Estates & Wines.

The winery and vineyards are situated in the Wairau Valley in Marlborough at the northern end of New Zealand’s South Island.  This is a unique wine region in that is blessed with a cool, maritime climate and gets more sunshine than any other place in New Zealand.  Cloudy Bay has estate vineyards located at prime sites within the Wairau Valley, and long-term supply agreements with five Wairau Valley growers. The main varieties grown are sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, and pinot noir with lesser quantities of gewurztraminer, Riesling, and pinot gris.

Cloudy Bay Vineyards was one of the first in New Zealand to really commit to an environmentally friendly vineyard management scheme.  They are a founding member of the New Zealand Integrated Winegrape Production Scheme which was established to to develop a program for sustainable vineyard management.