2012 WHITE ELEPHANT Rhone Style White Blend 750ml 5-Pack

White Elephant
1. A rare, expensive possession that is a financial burden to maintain. 2. An uncommon whitish or light-gray form of the Asia elephant, often regarded with special venerations. 3. A unique California white wine made from a blend of 59% Chenin Blanc, 24% Roussanne and 17% Viognier, which are barrel fermented in French Oak and aged Sur Lies for 9 months. Its cool climate pedigree stretches from Clarksburg, through San Benito to Santa Barbara County.

This is our 16th vintage of starting our company and this is the longest tenured wine. Looking back it was an exciting time as we were the young turks in the industry making something unique and different from undisputedly the best Chenin Blanc in the new world as the base, we sought out a more Loire-ish twang to Californian Chenin. The search for minerality lead us to Roussanne a Rhone varietal which worked well with a compliment of a sister varietal Viognier. Thus a White Elephant was born; difficult to explain and sell, but addicting for those brave enough to try it.

This entry is medium straw colored with up front mineral, honeysuckle and musk notes. The palate explodes with tropical guava, mango and passion fruit, and folds into a vanilla crème brulee pouch with a poached peach core. The wine is multi-layered and complex and plays well between the fruit and spice flavors and aromas. The barrel fermented complexity shines through in the finish and offers up vanilla top notes, but doesn’t dominate the pure fruit of the blend for a moment.

This wine is exceptional with virtually any fish from Seabass, Halibut or Sole to Salmon, Tuna or Shark. Its nice with rich based sauces and compound butters with garlic, oregano and/or marjoram. It’s nice with oysters on the half shell, fresh cracked crab and even lobster.