TN: 2011 Mayacamas Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc - USA, California, Napa Valley, Mt. Veeder

WINE TALK
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  • 2011 Mayacamas Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc - USA, California, Napa Valley, Mt. Veeder (7/28/2014)
    This was my first experience with the Mayacamas Sauvignon Blanc. It is quite an unusual take on the varietal, with a lot of density and strong, almost overpowering, flavors. Green cooking apples, petrol, salted butter, almost oxidative tasting but not quite. I wouldn’t have guess Sauvignon Blanc if I’d tasted it blind.

I feel like it might have seen some old oak – it wasn’t woody or creamy tasting, but it seemed to have more weight and a darker color than a steel version. That is just my speculation, though.

This reminded me somewhat of the Bedrock Kick Ranch Sauvignon Blanc, or of a young Bordeaux Blanc like Château Carbonnieux Blanc. I didn’t especially enjoy it this time around (and my wife hated it), but it strikes me as a wine that would improve over the next few years, partly because the wine came together and was less disjointed and strong after a couple of days in the fridge. It’s also possible that I’m just believing that because of Mayacamas’s label and reputation, but I think I’m going to hold my other four bottles for at least a year before trying the next one.

Posted from CellarTracker

I’m interested for anyone else’s experiences with this wine. Thanks.

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Chris, I tasted this and agree it was eccentric. Very sharp flavored and somewhat green. I have a weirdly tolerant palate, but I enjoyed the strangeness. Like you I was curious as to the cause of the wine’s distinctiveness. My bottles (I had two) are gone. I’m interested to here if time in the bottle mellows the wine.

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I’ve only had this wine once, several years ago. I think it was the 2008. It was merely ok on its own, lemony with lots of acidity, but it was absolutely incredible with oysters, one of the few really electric, synergistic food pairings I’ve ever had.

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This one was definitely better with food, and with a day or two of being open, than it was at the first pour. I didn’t like it initially, but I did somewhat come around like Mike to “enjoy the strangeness.”

At least it was fairly memorable, which isn’t something you can say for most CA sauvignon blanc.