2020 Avenius Sauvignon Blanc
Style
Aromas of ripe mango and orange zest belie typical Sauvignon Blanc markers and take on the personality of terroir.
Texturally dense and layered entry with a suggestion of pink grapefruit. This wine finished with the classic Avenius concentrated mineral acidity.
Food Pairings
This richer than normal Sauvignon Blanc would go nicely with lemon thyme roasted chicken, poached salmon, or pork lo mein.
Vineyards
Avenius Vineyard is owned and operated by Shari Avenius, who is also Linden Vineyard’s director. It is located on the Blue Ridge one half mile north of the winery at an elevation of 1,300 feet on a steep northeast facing slope. Soils are well-drained rocky greenstone and shale. The vines were planted in 1996 and are trained on the French lyre trellising system. Clone is unknown. Yields in 2020 were in the three tons per acre range (40hl/H). Over the last four years much effort has been made to get these older vines back in balance. Changes in pruning, cropping, manuring, and tilling have given us encouraging results.
Vintage 2020
Winter ended early as March warmed and quickly initiating a very early bud break. From early April to early May we were on frost alert with many close calls. May 9 (Mother’s Day) finally nipped Chardonnay and Merlot vines resulting in reduced yields.
Cooler than average April and May also slowed vine development, but a warm streak in June allowed for good flowering and berry set. A hot, dry mid-July slowed vine growth at just the right time. The vines were looking balanced and ready to put their energy into ripening at as veraison was soon to begin.
Late July gave us a few welcome rain showers that refreshed the vines, but those showers eventually became more steady rains and by mid-August the soils were close to saturated. This slowed the veraison process and pushed predicted harvest dates 7 to 10 days behind average. Smoke haze from the west coast fires filtered sunlight on some days.
Harvest was slow to begin. Avenius Sauvignon Blanc was picked on September 19. Juice trended towards low sugars, but had very precise acidity and good balance.
Winemaking
The focus of making Avenius Sauvignon Blanc is to showcase textural density and complexity that comes from the Avenius site. Retaining varietal character is not a goal. Terroir trumps variety. The chilled grapes are sorted, destemmed, lightly crushed and pressed and then the juice is allowed to settle overnight. VL3 yeast starts fermentation immediately. The wine fermented for about 30 days at 68F (20C) in old 500 liter puncheons. The wine was aged on lees for 10 months. Bottled in August 2021. Alcohol is 13.2%. 2,762 bottles produced.
Linden Vineyards / Our Wines / 2020 Vintage | 2020 Avenius Sauvignon Blanc