Blindfold 2013 California White Wine
Established in 2009, The Prisoner Wine Co. emerged with the change in tenure of the Napa Valley red blend and the typical California Zinfandel. With over a decade of winemaking experience at Ravenswood crafting Zinfandel, winemaker, Jen Beloz started The Prisoner Wine Company along with a family of growers and a winemaking team to grow and produce a selection of premium blends, including Cuttings, Blindfold, and Thorn. Created to provide the perfect white wine companion to The Prisoner, Blindfold is bold and intriguing. In establishing their own spin on a white blend, winemaker Jen Beloz and her team sought out interesting Rhône and aromatic varietals that would nicely complement a classic Chardonnay base. The resulting wine is a blend of 35% Los Carneros Chardonnay, and 60% of a combination of Viognier, Roussanne, Marsanne, and Grenache Blanc from the Central Coast with a finish of 5% of Riesling and Semillon combined (Note the 2012 blend had Chenin Blanc instead of Riesling).
I recently had tasted the 2012 and wanted to see if the 2013 vintage matched the superb 2012 vintage. Opening a bottle of the 2013 Blindfold White Wine, with anticipation, I was noticed a golden yellow color and fragrant aromas of tropical, citrus fruit and melons, similar to the 2012 aromas. This wine was aged, 25% in new French and Hungarian oak, 60% neutral oak and 15% in stainless steel for 10 months. The palate shows fresh fruit flavors of melons, citrus, peaches and pears, subtle cinnamon spice, hints of toasty oak. The 2013 seems to have livelier acidity and finished with mineral tones, and was well balanced. Certainly this wine would benefit from some cellar aging over the next few years. The creative blend produced a wine with grace and finesse that other wineries should take note.
Cheers!