Community Review

Grgich Hills Estate Fumé Blanc 2013

Napa Valley, California, United States

Community Score: 4.6/5
Community Reviews: 3

Price: $42.95

Sweetness: Dry
Alcohol: 14.3%

Drink: 2013-2020

Bottle size: 750 ml
Winery: Grgich Hills Estate

Greg Hughes rated this wine as 94/100 with the following review:

Grgich winemaking talent is what was tasted at the famed "Judgement in Paris." Mike Grgich was working for Chateau Montelena, at the time. His Chardonnay turned wuite a few heads. The winery which bears his name continues to be outstanding.
Fume, as a style should be more widely understood. Essentially, it is Sauvignon Blanc aged or fermented in barrels instead of steel tanks. Steel preserves freshness, but elevage in barrels can introduce amazing dimension through controlled oxidation and aging on yeast lees.
Golden hay colour. Aromas of toasted almond, nectarine, lemon, honeysuckle, and orange zest. Enigmatically, the less fruitaromas are already quite apparent. In other years, this wine has still been quite fresh and zippy from the get-go.
The flavours unfold in fascinating layers. Lovely stone fruit excite the palate at first - lots of acidity still. Very tropical. Yellow mango and golden apple. There is a satisfying almond and wheatgrass herbaceous quality that comes after the initial blast of fruit.
I've heard many say aging Cali fume ruins the wine because it loses its flamboyant flavours but has anyone tried in seriousness, or do they guzzle wines such as this because they are too tempting in the current?
-Best buy-

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