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Item Number: 6223
UPC: None
Country: USA
Region: California
Sub Region: Santa Barbara
Appellation/AVA: Santa Barbara County
Vintage: 2012
Grape(s): Pinot Grigio
Type: Wine - White
Bottle Size: 750ml Pack: 12
Closure: Cork
Alc by Vol(%): 12.5
About the Grape: Pinot Grigio is one of the wine-loving world’s most popular wines, and perhaps its attractiveness is due to its versatility. This gregarious wine loves good food and good conversation and can hold its own as a delightful aperitif, as a component to a meal or simply that well deserved glass of wine after a long day.
Location: But to fully express its true varietal characteristic, Pinot Grigio must be grown in the right place, with a cool climate and superb farming. Otherwise, the wine is Pinot Grigio in name only. Santa Barbara County is one of those picture-perfect places for Pinot Grigio, which after all is a closely related cousin to the finicky and particular Pinot Noir for which the County is quite famous. The west-to-east valleys of Santa Barbara County funnel cool sea fog and breezes from the nearby Pacific Ocean each morning, keeping the thin skinned Pinot Grigio cool and crisp. Toward midday, the fog lifts so that the bright sun can ripen each berry, turning the pinecone shaped clusters to a bluish, rosy (Grigio meaning gray in Italian) color. Afternoon breezes kick in each day and cool nighttime temperatures retain the grape’s natural acidity and sense of place. The 2012 Palmina Pinot Grigio is a snapshot of the County itself, comprised of grapes from the Sierra Madre Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley, Alisos Vineyard in the Los Alamos Valley, the Honea Vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley and Hibbits Ranch, a tiny vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills. Winemaking Notes: A skilled touch is necessary to coax the full crisp essence from this rosy-colored grape. Each vineyard’s grapes are harvested by hand early in the morning, then brought to the winery where they are whole-cluster pressed. As the pink skins spend little time in contact with the juice, the color is not transported to the resulting wines. Each lot was slowly fermented in its own stainless steel tank and Malolactic fermentation was inhibited to allow the characteristic of the grape and each vineyard to fully express itself. A blend was then assembled, and the resulting 2012 Pinot Grigio, Santa Barbara County bottled with a screwtop finish in the early months of 2013.
Tasting Notes: Pale, pale gold in color, 2012 Pinot Grigio is crystal clear and brilliant in nature. A bouquet of citrus peel, wild arugula and honeysuckle tease the senses. A sip astonishes with crisp and refreshing acidity delivering white peach, Bosc pear and Fuyu persimmon flavors, all mingling with a stony, flinty character. Beautifully balanced, the wine lingers on the palate with nuances of nectarine and almond. This is a firm, focused wine with a beautifully dry finish that acts as its own worldwide ambassador for the perfect Pinot Grigio climate and soils of Santa Barbara County.
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