2001 Los Robles Viejos White Wine

Our 2001 Los Robles Viejos white wine is a blend of Roussanne (50%), Viognier (25%), and Marsanne (25%) from an exceptional new vineyard in the west-side area of Paso Robles. I've always enjoyed the varietal wines made from these grapes in California, but felt there were ways that combining them might create something finer and more interesting, particularly if they were grown by the same hand, in the same place, and if that place was especially well-suited to the varieties. The area west of Highway 101 in Paso Robles is a glorious, archetypally "old-California" landscape: tall rounded hills, crowned by magnificent old oaks (hence the name: Los Robles Viejos), and features calcareous soils akin to those found throughout southern Europe, where that continent's great wines grow. Los Robles Viejos is really a kind of culmination of the project I began in 1985, when the first Les Cotês Sauvages wine was produced, where the aim was to generate California wines from the same varieties grown in the South of France, that would exhibit a similar kind of equilibrium and spirit -- generous wines with abundant perfume, yet finely balanced, so that despite the weight of ripeness, they could dance across the palate, angels on the head of the pin

FRUIT SOURCE:

Rozet Vineyard, Paso Robles. Planted in 1998, in limestone soils, roughly a mile west of Highway 101, in the Paso Robles hills. It's hot in Paso in the summertime, with daytime temperatures reaching into the 100's, yet by mid afternoon, the westerlies begin to come into play -- strong cooling winds racing through the famed "Templeton Gap," and bringing the mercury down overnight into the 50's (and sometimes below). The limestone soil seems to give wines of both firm structure and great finesse. It also lends a "minerally" side to the aroma and taste profiles of the wines grown in it. The Roussanne, Viognier and Marsanne at Rozet are farmed with great attention to detail, and yields are restricted to maximize fruit intensity. This is one of the most exciting vineyards from which we've ever had the privilege to source fruit.

WINEMAKING NOTES:

All grapes hand-picked, and whole cluster-pressed into neutral French oak puncheons (average age: 17 years) and fermented therein. The Viognier and Marsanne were co-fermented, and blended with the Roussanne after its fermentation was complete. Malolactic occurred naturally, in barrel. The wine was racked out of wood in May, and bottled at the end of August.

WINEMAKER'S TASTING NOTES:

Pale gold color, with slightest suggestion of green. Fresh aromas of honey, lime, green hay, resin, a whiff of cardamom. Medium-body, nicely fleshy entry. Firm flavors of honey, spice, a trace of lime; quite fresh and bracing, finish long and clean. Should be a delight over the next 2-3 years, yet longer aging may produce really compelling complexity. Will anyone wait?

• Production: 475 cases.
• Suggested Retail: $19.00
• Release Date: April 2003

PRODUCED AND BOTTLED BY INTUITION AND BLIND LUCK Under the direction of Steve Edmunds, winemaker.