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2019 Barrel Aged SB 97 points |
The Sauvignon Blancs crafted by winemaker Jesse Katz for brands like The Setting, Aperture and Aesthete have continued to impress. In 2019, Hillary Sjolund joined as associate winemaker, and the pair have taken quality to the next level with this stunning 2019 Barrel Aged Sauvignon Blanc. A portion of the 2019 Sauvignon Blanc from the Dry Stack Vineyard was set apart for additional aging—it was matured 17 months in barrel, with 12 months' bâtonnage. It has layered, inviting aromas of white peaches, kiwi, tarragon and lime, with supporting tones of panna cotta, beeswax and flint. Reminiscent of Bordeaux Blanc with its weight and textural presence, the medium-bodied palate juxtaposes tangy acidity with a waxy, mouth-coating texture, intense, ripe fruits and a very long, flinty finish. Bottled unfiltered, this serious varietal Sauvignon Blanc is bold and inviting now and will develop more honeyed, peaty nuances as it ages in bottle. Drink Date: 2022-2032 |
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2018 Barrel Aged SB 92 points |
"The 2018 Dry Stack Vineyard White Wine is a serious, 100% Sauvignon Blanc, aged 17 months in barrel on the lees in 50% new French oak. It has aromas of beeswax, tarragon, baked kiwi and floral notes over soft peachy fruit, and it is seamless and elegant in the mouth with a rounded texture contrasted by pops of ripe fruit and spicy accents, finishing long and nuanced. This should be nice with a couple of years of bottle age." Drink Date: 2021-2031 |
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2020 Sauvignon Blanc 94 points |
"The 2020 Sauvignon Blanc has gregarious scents of kiwi, lemongrass and musky floral perfume, with wafts of beeswax and crushed stone. The light-bodied palate is bright and tangy with a gently waxy texture, deriving energy from its juxtaposition of full, ripe fruit and tangy, stony character. Fermented and matured in stainless steel, it's the same wine as the Aesthete barrel-aged Sauvignon Blanc, made in a brighter, fresher style." Drink Date: 2022-2027 |
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2019 Sauvignon Blanc 91 points |
"This 2019 Sauvignon Blanc is the inaugural vintage of a stainless steel fermented and aged version of the grape from Aesthete, whose Dry Stack Vineyard White Wine is also comprised of Sauvignon Blanc but made in a style emulating Bordeaux Blanc. This new style is fun and inviting, with bright aromas of lime skin, crushed stone and kiwi with touches of elderflower and tarragon. The palate offers anchoring texture for its pure, fresh fruits, and it finishes long and perfumed. Both styles of Sauvignon Blanc will be made from here on out." Drink Date: 2020-2025 |
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2020 Rosé of Pinot Noir 92 points |
"The 2020 Rosé of Pinot Noir, from the Dry Stack Vineyard in Bennett Valley, has a pale onion-skin color and delicate scents of fresh red apples, wet stone and lemon peel. The palate is light-bodied with a gently rounded texture and more concentrated, peachy fruit than the nose might lead you to believe, and it has a long, layered finish. Inspired by Domaine Serene's Coeur Blanc (a white Pinot Noir) and Provençal in style, this pretty rosé will offer drinking pleasure over the next 2-3 years." Drink Date: 2022-2025 |
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2019 Rosé of Pinot Noir 90 points |
"Inspired by Domaine Serene's Coeur Blanc, the 2019 Rosé of Pinot Noir is the inaugural vintage of a pink wine from Aesthete, and winemaker Jesse Katz says it's "the first rosé I've ever made." This one is fresh and delicate, pale salmon in color with baker's yeast, dried herbs, apricot and red berry aromas. The palate is light-bodied and fresh with peachy fruit and a textural touch on the long finish." Drink Date: 2021-2024 |
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2019 Pinot Noir 94+ points |
"Medium ruby-purple, the 2019 Pinot Noir has deep scents of red cherry and cranberry jelly with tones of blood orange, woodsmoke, Angostura bitters and tobacco leaves. The medium-bodied palate offers intense, concentrated fruits laced with fine earthy accents; an abundance of grainy tannins; integrated, bright acidity; and a layered, spicy finish. It deserves another 2-3 years in bottle." Drink Date: 2022-2032 |
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2018 Pinot Noir 91 points |
"This 2018 Pinot Noir is another new variety for the Aesthete portfolio. The nose blends aromas of savory red and black fruits with nuances of forest floor, dried herbs and orange peel, with a medium-bodied, spicy palate that's grainy and fresh with an earth-laced finish. This was aged in 30% new French oak." Drink Date: 2020-2030 |
 
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2016 Barrel Aged SB 95 points |
"From the Dry Stack Vineyard in Bennett Valley and made by the up and coming Jesse Katz, the 2016 Aesthete White Wine (100% Sauvignon Blanc) offers a deep, serious style that’s very much in the style of the great Bordeaux Blancs of the world. Caramelized lime, orange blossom, crushed rocks, and minty notes all flow to a powerful, concentrated white that has beautiful acidity, a stacked mid-palate, and a great finish. It’s capable of being drunk today or cellared for 10-15 years. Bravo!" |
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2017 Barrel Aged SB 94 points |
"From a great site in Bennett Valley, the 2017 Sauvignon Blanc is 100% varietal and spent a year in 50% new oak. Its vivid gold (there's even a touch of green in the color) is followed by a racy bouquet crushed lime, lemon pith, mint, and honeysuckle. Richer on the palate than the nose would lead you to believe, it's beautifully textured, has notable concentration, and rock-solid underlying acidity. It's a smoking good Sauvignon Blanc that has a touch of Bordeaux Blanc-like character. Drink it over the coming 7-8 years." |
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2018 Barrel Aged SB 92 points
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"Less aromatic, the 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Dry Stack Vineyard offers more savory and mineral-laced notes of buttered lemons, orange blossom, spice, and crushed stone. Medium-bodied, with a touch of background oak and a Bordeaux Blanc-like vibe, it’s a rocking Sauvignon Blanc. Drink it over the coming 2-4 years." |
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2020 Sauvignon Blanc 92 points |
"The 2020 Sauvignon Blanc Dry Stack Vineyard is cut from the same cloth and has a pure, juicy, vibrant style. Peach, crushed limes, mint, and honeyed minerality all define the nose, and this medium-bodied effort has a supple, layered texture, wonderful purity, and a great finish." |
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2019 Sauvignon Blanc 91 points |
"I was able to taste two vintages of the Sauvignon Blanc, both from a site in the cooler climate Bennett Valley. The 2019 Sauvignon Blanc Dry Stack Vineyard offers lots of melon, papaya, fig, and pineapple notes as well as a concentrated, vibrant and pure style on the palate. It's geared for the dinner table and is beautifully done, with both bright acidity and loads of fruit." |
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2019 Rosé of Pinot Noir 92 points
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"Made by the team of Jeff Jones, Pete Jones, and Jesse Katz, the 2019 Rose Of Pinot Noir is 100% Pinot Noir that spent six months in French oak. It actually reminds me a little of a rosé from Bandol with its richer style, yet it still has plenty of freshness as well as a clean, crisp finish. Offering lots of ripe strawberries, nectarines, whites flowers, and spice, drink this complex, textured, food-friendly beauty over the coming 6-12 months." |
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2018 Pinot Noir 91 points
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"The only red presented and also reviewed last year, the 2018 Pinot Noir Dry Stack Vineyard comes all from the cooler Bennett Valley and reveals a deeper ruby hue as well as Burgundian notes of caramelized cherries, dried herbs, forest floor, and spice. Nicely textured, medium to full-bodied, and concentrated, it's wonderfully balanced and will keep for 3-5 years, although there's no need to hold off either." |
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2016 Barrel Aged SB 93 points |
"Complex and composed, this vineyard-designate wine is brightly decorated in flavors of grapefruit pith and lemon zest, with zippy acidity. As it develops in the glass, richer elements of peach and apricot flesh out the palate with succulent aplomb." |
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2017 Barrel Aged SB 92 points
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"This is an estate-grown project with winemaker Jesse Katz at the helm, who works with 100% varietal grapes to make this impressive white. Aged less than a year in French oak with toasted acacia barrel heads, it opens thick and heady, with a viscous nature to the wood. Stone, pineapple and wisps of fig combine seamlessly, boosted by fresh acidity." |
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2020 Rosé of Pinot Noir 92 |
"Salmon-colored, this wine was made like a white wine, pressed and barrel-fermented into both new and used oak. Herbal on the nose, it offers a sleek, slate-like texture and well-integrated flavors of cranberry and pomegranate." |
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2016 Barrel Aged SB 92 points |
"Shows tremendous presence, offering vanilla custard, honeysuckle and peach marmalade flavors that are rich and juicy, with threads of honey, pickled ginger and lemon zest adding to the complexity. Smooth and very juicy on the finish, where a spicy note kicks in. Drink now." |
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2016 Barrel Aged SB 93 points
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“This is a fantastic and fleshy sauvignon blanc that shows the density from barrel fermentation and a year in barrel. The inspiration is from top Bordeaux dry whites. Full-bodied, layered and flavorful. Lots of cream, apple and pear character. Drink now.” |
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2017 Barrel Aged SB 93 Points
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"This small-production project from a cold site has bright lemon and green-peach aromas with a gently grassy edge and a chalky, savory, barrel-influenced edge. The palate has a smooth, succulent and fresh, juicy core of acidity and plenty of texture. Grilled-nut flavors to close. Drink now." |
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2020 Rosé of Pinot Noir 92 Points |
"Pale copper-colored rosé with aromas of raspberries, dried cranberries, pink grapefruit and grilled herbs. Subtly smoky and spiced with a medium to full body and crisp acidity. Creamy, flavorful finish. Serious rosé. Drink now." |
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Full writeup here |
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2016 Barrel Aged SB 94 points |
"A lovely, refined Sauvignon Blanc. There aren’t many that clock in at 14.4% ABV and display such pristine structure behind a powerful persistence and strikingly fresh acidity. It begins with a perfumed nose of elegant jasmine, peach, and vibrant citrus and evolves into a rich, exotic melange of sweet, white stone fruit, kiwi and a note of Asian pear. The singular Dry Stack Vineyard produces fruit that makes for an eminently artful white wine: the Aesthete has the serenity of Monet’s water-lilies-on-a-pond paintings, the emotion of Degas’ paintings of dancers, and the stylishness and vivid color of Toulouse-Lautrec poster art. A wonderful sense of place and expression of a single vineyard—a true sense of the beauty that nature provides." |
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Sep 2018 Issue |
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2016 Barrel Aged SB 94 points
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"The barrel program is evident in this weighty white. Perfumed tropical fruit creates a waft of summer pineapple, white tea, and gardenia, for starters. On the palate, spiced melons and lemons develop floral characteristics. At mid-palate, the viscosity spreads to a creamy array of peach tart with a hint of salinity on the bright finish." |
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June 2018 Issue Style and Substance by MaryAnn Worobiec: "Sauvignon Blanc lends itself to large crops, so it's important to keep yields down in the vineyard. Winemaker Jesse Katz, who makes outstanding Sauvignon Blancs for Aesthete Wines and his own |
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"We are also dialing in the vineyard protocol with a new focus on crop load-much of the stuff we have been doing for our reds for many years. But we are seeing this effect in the whites as well, making them richer and concentrated to complement what we are doing in the winery. The 2016 aesthete Sauvignon Blanc from Dry Stack Vineyard in Bennett Valley (92, $55) is rich, juicy and complex." |
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April 2021 Issue Serious Sauvignon by MaryAnn Worobiec |
