2008 SAUVIGNON BLANC MCGINLEY
Santa Ynez Valley


2008 was one of those terrific years in which I could really drive myself crazy because no extreme hot spell forced me to pick the grapes. For each vineyard, I had a week or two to go over every detail before deciding the perfect moment for harvest--and that is the striking difference between the 2008 and 2009 vintages. And for McGinley another extraordinary weather event marked the vintage. For the first time since the vineyard began producing grapes in 1988, a spring frost wiped out the crop in all but one tiny section. Our usual production of six to seven hundred cases shrank to 110. The yield in that weak growing area produced a tiny 1.5 tons to the acre. The wine we made is both delicate and powerful. Aromatically, it is an interesting combination of lemon peel and pine. The flavors are juicy and fresh, and based on its fine structure this wine will be going strong 10 years from now.