I don’t drink much Sauvignon Blanc – or Fume Blanc – as this was presented to me at the Estate while were in Napa Valley. So, for me to purchase a bottle, especially while visiting the home of Californian Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, right away you know it must be special. Amber led us most capably through a tasting which started with this fine wine.

Clear and bright, pale lemon with legs noted, this wine is clean and has intense aromas of starfruit, passionfruit, lemon grass and sweet green grass. A youthful wine, on the palate it’s dry with high, tart acidity, medium alcohol and medium minus body. The intense flavour profile is sharp lemon curd, more starfruit, dragon fruit, green mango, white peach and passionfruit. It’s got a lovely floral profile too of honeysuckle and long shafts of grass – the kind you find in a spring meadow – along with bergamot lime. The finish is long on this outstanding wine.

Thoroughly enjoyable with the soft chèvre we bought in Anderson Valley it was fermented with wild yeast and aged in very old oak casks for 9 months. It would be fabulous with smoked salmon or shellfish dishes with light pasta. And if I hadn’t had the entire bottle with Michelle over before dinner drinks, it would have been perfect with my light artichoke pasta and fresh mushroom dish. Darn.