2009 Substance Sb (Sauvignon Blanc)

Hello friends. This is one of the finest white wines I have tasted this summer, and it’s under $15. One of my surprises of the season has been the quality of the Washington Sauvignon Blancs I have been sampling. Long have I been underwhelmed by our state’s ability to produce compelling SBs, but my curmudgeonly facade is being chipped away by shimmering bottles such as this.

Much like the Stevens Sauvignon Blanc from a few weeks ago, this is hidden single-vineyard juice. In this case, we’re looking at 100% Sauvignon Blanc from Minick Vineyard in the Yakima Valley (not to be confused with Minnick Hills Vineyard, which is a Walla Walla site). Minick is a cool site best known for its Syrah. Jamie Brown at Waters and Greg Harrington at Gramercy both work with this site and wax poetic about its ability to impart lovely citrus-peel notes to Syrahs.

Wines of Substance is a collaboration between these two winemakers, and it is designed to explore some of Washington’s more exciting vineyard-varietal combinations at reasonable price points. I have had several Substance wines in the past where the quality-for-price was quite strong (their “Sy” Syrah is almost always a standout), but this Sauvignon Blanc might be the strongest.

Because both Jamie and Greg are massive acid-heads, it should come as no surprise that these grapes were picked early to retain acid, which leads us to a very drinkable alcohol level of 12.9%. The nose has the unmistakable grassiness of cool-climate Sauvignon Blanc, along with some funky earth notes. This is a live-wire palate that lights up the room with its combination of raciness and depth, and with flavors of grass, poblano, artichoke, mineral, and citrus. Three-quarters of this was aged in stainless, with the remaining quarter in neutral French oak. That little bit of neutral wood adds wonderful texture and richness to the wine (but absolutely no oak flavors). The wine conveys real density for such low alcohol, and it is super-impressive at this price point.

First come first served up to 18 bottles. We should have this wine in the warehouse in less than a week, at which point it will be available for pickup or shipping during the autumn shipping window.