I am very excited to announce that the Freedom Wine Company 2018 Grenache Blanc will be bottled in April. As most people are now aware, the 2016 GB was my first commercial wine to sell out. I didn't make any whites in 2017. Instead I opted for a Rose and that turned out to be another huge success. In my second year making Grenache Blanc it has been very exciting to see the wine develop before bottling. I am both excited, and a bit scared yet can't help but compare the 2018 GB to the 2016 production which I loved -- and apparently everyone else did too!
This year's white is also from Estelle Vineyard in Santa Ynez. Interestingly, the Grenache Blanc was the last grape to be harvested at Estelle this year. As most of you know, the white wine grapes are normally harvested earlier because they are picked with lower sugar levels than the reds, which come off the vines later. This year's harvest presented some unusual problems for growers. There was a lack of rain, a prolonged period of early heat followed by a cooling spell and this gave rise to the longest and latest harvest in thirty years. Many growers lost tons of fruit due to the early heat. Other growers saw fruit rot on the vine this year because it never got ripe enough to pick. The fruit that was picked early, during the heat spike had low ph levels. Fruit that was picked later, after the heat broke and the sugar levels backed down, resulted in unusually low acid levels. Not a perfect harvest by any means.
With all this going on in the background, all I wanted to do this year was to try and duplicate exactly what I did in 2016. I am both happy and sad to say that when we are dealing with living things, duplication is an impossibility. The 2018 GB does not taste exactly like the 2016, nor should it. It should taste like what it is: a beautiful 2018 Grenache Blanc from Santa Ynez, California. It is light in color with an excellent nose. It has hints of banana peel and tropical fruit on the nose and tastes of pineapple, greenery and a solid earthiness. As in 2016, it was cold fermented in stainless steel with no oak. It will be bottled in early April and released in May. The retail price will remain the same at $32, even though my grape cost went up.
Pre-orders will be taken with a 20% discount. We can now accept credit cards too.
Finally!
Please call me to schedule a tasting of current release wines, to tour the facility in Camarillo or even barrel samplings. Thank you all for your continued support.
Cheers!
Jeff