2012 Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley
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Tasting notes
Still drinking remarkably well, the 2012 Sauvignon Blanc—sourced largely from Farina (in Sonoma County) and Hyde (in Napa-Carneros)—boasts a charming smoky, fumé-like note alongside hints of honeycomb, cut grass, green figs and ripe melon. Medium-bodied and creamy in texture, it's still fresh and long on the finish. How much longer it will go is an open question, but why wait?
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Sporting a vivid yellow color with a hint of green, the 2012 Sauvignon Blanc has a vibrant bouquet of gooseberry, lemongrass, and salty minerality. Nicely textured, balanced, with terrific purity and both richness and freshness, it can be drunk today or cellared for a decade.
54% Napa Valley from their own vineyard and others; 45% the Faine Vineyard on Sonoma Mountain. Raw and vegy nose but richer fruit than the 2013. Slightly bitter end. Both floral and citrus notes. (JR)
The 2012 Sauvignon Blanc is gorgeous. White peach, flowers, sage, mint and flowers all flesh out in the glass. A creamy, expressive wine, the 2012 impresses for its pure texture and breadth. Exotic floral notes from the significant presence of Sauvignon Musque gives the wine an attractive sense of lift. The 2012 was made from a handful of top sites and aged in a combination of steel, oak and cement.
About the producer
Spottswoode is one of those rare Napa estates whose reputation rests less on volume or spectacle than on persistent exactitude. Set on the western edge of St Helena, where the Mayacamas rise and afternoon breezes temper the valley’s warmth, the vineyard occupies a favoured pocket of the appellation.