TN: 2007 Eno Wines Viognier "The First Born" White Hawk Vineyard

WINE TALK
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  • 2007 Eno Wines Viognier “The First Born” White Hawk Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (6/9/2009)
    This is a wine that Sasha did not release and only made about 25 cases or so IIRC. bottled back at the beginning of the year I liked it okay but wow has a few months changed this wine and I am glad that Sasha is not only a neighbor but a good friend…

The nose is pure tropical fruit, pineapple, a little banana peel and some orange blossom. The palate is rich and crisp at the same time displaying just a touch of honey, honeysuckle, pineapple and orange rind…finish is medium in length. Wine is bottled under screw cap and I can say it has shown marked improvement in the last 6 months…wow!!!

Disclosure - Sasha and Kiara are very good friends…still I am very impressed by this wine. (90 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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I really like Sasha’s wines (and the man too). I didn’t realize he had made a white. That’s pretty cool.

I need to pick up some more of his Grenache over at the Wine Library.

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Sounds good Tony!

Do you know if it was fermented in stainless or neutral oak or if went through complete m/l? I didn’t see any notes on the Eno website.

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Brett and Ben - IIRC this was mostly stainless. It was enough for 1 barrel so it was either all stainless or all older oak. Sasha decided not to release since there was so little so it has become house wine for Sasha and friends of Sasha…I am lucky

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Brett / Tony -

This was fermented/aged in an older barrel, and it was on its lees until it was racked before bottling. It did not go all the way through ML. We bottled it right around New Years.

I just opened a bottle this past week and I agree with Tony that it’s improved since bottling (disclosure - I work part-time for Sasha at Eno)

We’ve got 3 barrels of '08 Viognier that I think will be even better than the '07. Like the '07, they’re all older barrels.

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I think that was bottled on one of the really cold days shortly after New Years? (disclosure - I work for free for Ken at all of the places where he is an assistant).

-Al

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Al - good memory…it was a little on the cold side that day. I rode my bike over in the morning and nearly froze my hands riding over…and I gotta say, while I liked the Viognier that morning out of bottling tank, I thought it good but nothing more. I was pleasantly surprised by how good the wine was now…gotta get Sasha to sell or give me a few more bottles.

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Tony / Ken,

Thanks for the info. I’m very fond of “lean and mean” viognier i.e. stainless or neutral oak and zero m/l; the grape has such captivating aromatics and flavors and I hate to see it masked with ancillary components.

My buddy and I are making our first white this year and it will be a viognier sourced from SB area vineyards. We’re still deciding if we want to use stainless or neutral.

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Tony,

Thanks for the notes . . . do you know if he used a saranex or saratin liner on the wine? Curious to hear . . .

Also, any chance on bringing a bottle in a few weeks to the OL?

And Brett, which vyd will you be working with?

cheers!

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Sourcing from two vineyards in Los Olivos and one in Sta. Rita Hills…

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larry, we bottled this under tin. our reds are under saranex.

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Hey, welcome to the Berserkers board, Sasha! So appropriate with a winery in Berserkeley [berserker.gif]