Bouchaine, wild n crazy kids, down in Carneros, the southernmost (yet counter-intuitively one of the coolest) Napa appellations. Sure, they make some Carneros standards (I have enjoyed the Pinot!), but I was enchanted to find out they also make Riesling and Gewurtztraminer, more known for coming out of France’s Alsace, or Germany.
It’s those fun bay breezes, um, breezing through the San Francisco Bay, keeping it cool, chill, maybe even demure, and making the region amenable to grapes that thrive in cooler climes.
I feel like this climate is like comedy for actresses in Hollywood who shouldn’t thrive given the climate that favors the hot ones, but we make it through cause, at least recently, being funny is cool.
Too many metaphors? Probably. Here’s the wine!
2022 Bouchaine Gewurztraminer, Estate Selection, spending six months in stainless with a little in amphora and neutral oak, whoaaaa. It is a sweet spot between lychee and rosewater floating in a sweet grapefruit sea, definitely dry. And there’s a touch of brininess, too, bringing savory to the floral. So, this is so good.
2022 Bouchaine Estate Selection Riesling is so, so fresh, utterly dry, with just that undercurrent of bitter marmalade born a lil’ bit of botrytis. It is SUPER citrus-forward, like all of them–lime especially, though, and there is the je ne sais quoi of flint to it, too. Superb, balanced, refreshing, and ultimately both sippable and pluggable.