Easton "Natoma" Sierra Foothills Sauvignon Blanc 2021

This supple wine is lush with complex and exotic fruit flavors like papaya, green apple, white grapefruit, key lime, cumin, lemon curd, five-spice powder and dried herbs. It is medium weight on the midpalate, with the acidity creating a fuller, more robust wine. The brisk mineral finish is super long and tasty. It has neither the excessive herbaceousness of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc nor the creamy richness of some California Sauvignon Blancs that lean towards a Chardonnay profile.

The 2021 Sauvignon Blanc is made from grapes grown at the 40 year-old Chatom Vineyard in Calaveras County and the newish Saureel Vineyard on Gold Hill in El Dorado County. The Clone One (the original Bordeaux selection in California from Chateau Yquem) is grown at Chatom, and the Musqué clone is grown at Monarch Mine. This distinctive clone was imported from the viticultural station in Pont-de-la-Maye near Bordeaux around 1962. Compared with Clone One, which has an herbaceous, green character and crisp acidity, Musqué has better viscosity and shows floral and tropical fruit aromas. The winemakers find these two clones complementary. 

The two varieties are cold fermented together in a stainless steel tank at 55˚F, then aged for nine months in neutral French oak barrels on lees before bottling it in late March the year following harvest. The wine does not undergo malolactic fermentation and therefore retains its delicious crispness. The extended lees aging and battonage enhances the mouth feel.

"Natoma" in Maidu (Native American people of northern California) means pure and original; “from upstream.”