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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.8 pts. and median of 90 pts. in 23 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Evjoker on 1/20/2024 & rated 89 points: Apricot, lemon, elderflower and lots of lead. (215 views) | | | Tasted by bubbachumps on 7/15/2023 & rated 90 points: Flamboyant cali sauvignon blanc, notes of apricot canteloupe, star fruit. Lush and full of flavor on the palate, could use more acid but is good at its style. (538 views) | | | Tasted by Stw85 on 5/13/2023 & rated 91 points: Medium yellow color, aroma of an unripe peach. Tasting Notes of peach, lemon, apricot, and elder flower. Off dry taste , low to medium acidity , low tannin, medium body. Hint of oak and smooth finish with layers of flavor. Medium to long finish. Complex finish for. sav blanc. (449 views) | | | Tasted by sfwinelover1 on 12/15/2022: Bottle 2 of 2 and like the Chianti of my last TN, a very similar experience to the prior one (although here, similar was more positive than with the other wine). At what I paid, I know of no other SB with this level of sophistication, mixing fruit and structure, the tart, sweet and savory. Ready off the pour, this held well over 4 days and worked equally well on its own as with crab cakes and other diverse fare. While this wine won’t age like a HBB, or probably even an Apres Midi, the CT drink latest date of 2024 seems unduly pessimistic. Nice job here. Will look for more around this price point. If scoring, 91-92+ (1555 views) | | | Tasted by Prgino on 11/27/2022: Enjoyed with Thai food with Pam and Jeff. (895 views) | | | Tasted by Irish_Wine on 11/1/2022 & rated 92 points: 85% Sauvignon Blanc, 12% Sémillon, 3% Sauvignon Vert. Fermented in 68% French oak barrels, 30% stainless steel tanks, and 2% concrete eggs. Aged on its lees with daily or weekly battonage
Pale lemon colour.
Medium intensity on the nose with passion fruit, lemon, cream, brioche, vanilla.
Medium intensity and rich on the palate. High acidity, full body, high alcohol, long finish.
Very enjoyable with good intensity, length and complexity.
(121 views) | | | Tasted by Pontifax on 8/27/2022 & rated 92 points: Bottle#2 of this wine...
On nose and palate: very consistent notes from February of this year, high levels of stony minerals , lemon curd, tarragon, fresh, but muted acidity, on a full , bone dry body....blind tasted tonight , with a friend who thought it might be a grand cru Chablis Les Clos....lol
Flattering, but the wrong varietal...blind tasting is fun..
Went very well with a Salmon dinner. (1233 views) | | | Tasted by buymoreredsdrinkmorewhites on 6/19/2022: Popped one of Cousin Pudges 2 case purchase while watching US Open golf.
Peach, nectarine, some lemon zest with a nice creamy finish. Very good value CA SB that we much prefer now than Merry Edwards and other producers given the price. Really in a good spot now with or without food. (1532 views) | | | Tasted by Pontifax on 2/18/2022 & rated 92 points: So....I am a bona fide fan of this Napa SB producer,having tasted and reviewed the 2015, '17, '18.
...and now this new vintage.
On nose: surprisingly shy, faint minerals and pear skin.
On palate: follow through of above flavour notes, with rich, slightly creamy notes of lemon curd,a ghost of lime and notes of fresh tarragon, and absolutely bone dry.
Still young at 3 years of age.....the oak is present, but not overbearing....will benefit from a few years of bottle age.....I note that the alcohol level in this vintage has been reduced to 14.1%....a good thing, if the climate permits....plays well with salmon , sea bass, halibut , and herbed chicken. (2030 views) | | | Tasted by Gabasaur on 11/13/2021 & rated 80 points: Pretty good with salmon but did have a bit of a strong aftertaste that I didn’t love (1762 views) | | | Tasted by sfwinelover1 on 10/11/2021 & rated 91 points: First of 2 ($19.99) from a mixed case bought from online wine clearinghouse #4, and my first CL wine of any sort, though I have a couple of BTK cabs resting peacefully. On the nose and palate, pretty much of a PnP, although consumed slowly over 4 nights, notes of green apple skins, pears, orange blossoms, river rocks, almond paste and a lemon-lime note on the back end. Light gold, medium+ bodied and legs. Racy acidity, no heat. Good+ complexity, persistence and intensity. I've been going through a bit of a SB phase lately--trying desperately to hold onto the last bit of summer, as there's no varietal I drink with so much seasonality--and as indicated in some of my past TNs, finding them in 3 buckets: the relatively sheer, taut, lithe, lean, savory and saline (at the cheap end, Hanna, and at the other, Spottswoode), the more elegant, rich and creamy (the Aesthete, the PD [yep, I know it's more semillon, but bear with me, ok?] and the Apres Midi, and those in between, the Greywacke Wild, the Merry Edwards, and now, voila, or viola, the CL. Unlikely to make you think about jumping into the increasingly cool Bay or knocking off the Hog Island stash of raw oysters on the one hand, nor to bring up memories of Bordeaux in the Spring sipping Chateau Pape Clement or Haut Brion Blanc on the other, this reasonably marries sweet and savory, lush and lean, for a reasonably fulsome and always pleasant quaffing experience. Not surprisingly per the above, this is delightful as a standalone sipper, and pairs well with what I'd also call mid-frequency white wine foods, like meatier white fish and white meat chicken, rather than sushi and said raw oysters, about which I'll have some serious making up to do in 2022. This is certainly more of a wine for consuming as you're sitting around the pool at Montage in Laguna Beach as the sun slips behind the horizon, not so much for apres ski after a hard day carving the powder in Cortina (save that for the DF Amarone :)). At 20 bucks or so, this and the Greywacke really scratch my itch for a well-balanced, delicious, fun wine not requiring much thought, though if you were to double the price to Merry Edwards range, it becomes just a bit less fun, with a pretty incremental gain from my perspective (on the other hand, there are plenty of truly terrible SBs--and don't even get me started on rosays (typing it that way until I figure out how to use the accent key) that are actually *more* expensive and offer nothing other than the picture of the hot model who's drinking them in the ad in Vogue, or wherever. Drinking well now with minimal air, held well over several nights, and should hold around this level for at least several years (um, not so much if you opened the bottle, though; in that case, consume within a few nights or so). If CL can do this good of a job with this SB at $20, can't wait to see what they can do with those BTKs at 2 large. Good stuff, and great value. 91+ (2018 views) | | | Tasted by buymoreredsdrinkmorewhites on 7/17/2021: Drinking very well. Cousin Pudges favorite SB year in and year out. Very smooth with that touch of richness on the finish. Very strong effort from the Cliff Lede winery. Very consistent SB. (1538 views) | | | Tasted by der Schmecker on 7/10/2021: I've been aware of Cliff Lede without knowing much about the wine or the winery, just an overall sense of a quality brand. Listed on K&L's website and found using filters for Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc. Decent price so decided to buy and try. Unlike the other, earlier reviewers, I'm familiar with the high quality of Napa Sauvignon Blanc wines (which often offer excellent value), so I'm not surprised nor as ecstatic, but definitely enjoy this and would buy again. Cliff Lede describes this as "elegant and lively" which is an excellent description. Made of 85% Sauvignon Blanc, 12% Sémillon, 3% Sauvignon Vert grapes. Not familiar with Sauvignon Vert or how plentiful the varietal is in Napa Valley, but the combination works! Drinking on a hot summer day and as satisfying, if not more, than a light cold beer. (1598 views) | | | Tasted by VoVo on 6/13/2021 & rated 93 points: Wow. We love this wine. This is one of the better Sauv Blanc we have had in a long time. This is what you get when you are waiting in line at Bottle Barn in Sonoma County and you see this wine reviewed and take the plunge. We wish we bought more. Delightfully crisp, delightfully well rounded, and delightfully graced with a tiny bit of grassiness and citrus that balanced out in just the right way! We generally really do not like NZ Sauv Blancs but now are growing to love those from USA or other areas that are less forcefully grassy and more elegant in style. Delish! (1241 views) | | | Tasted by CubFan4Life on 6/12/2021 & rated 92 points: Nice change of pace from the NZ Sauv Blancs we love so much. This wine offers alot of brioche on the nose which I didn’t expect in a Sauv Blanc. Also experienced lemon curd on the nose. On the palate I experienced some citrus, some honey, and lemon. My wife tasted more Bosc pear and green apple. We both liked it and I’ll be buying a few bottles next time I head to the wine store. (811 views) |
| Cliff Lede Producer websiteSauvignon Blanc Varietal CharacterUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Napa ValleySt. Helena |
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