2021 Avenius Sauvignon Blanc
Style
This vintage has classic Avenius aromas of stone dust and oyster shell along with Kiwi and grapefruit zest. Medium bodied, but concentrated and wound up. Very dry, long and precise at the finish.
Food Pairings
This wine cries for shellfish especially briny cold ocean oysters. Thai cuisine, fresh goat cheese and raw fish work well also.
Vineyard
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 2021 were in the two tons per acre range (30hl/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
Spring came in gently and predictably. A cold February was followed by a dry, mild March. Bud break was in late April, right on time. May did not follow suit as hail on May 7 damaged some emerging shoots. Fortunately the damage was mostly cosmetic to only the base of the shoots as the clusters had not yet unfolded.
May was dry as was June and July. This made for a good crop (excellent pollination conditions) with small berries (water stressed vines), but young vines were beginning to show signs of excessive water stress (stunted growth and yellowing basal leaves).
Veraison began in late July under ideal conditions: hot and dry. Color change was quick and uniform setting the stage for high quality. Mid-August presented a big shift with humid, wet nights and frequent quick, hard showers. This slowed the ripening process and elevated disease pressure.
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 2022. Alcohol is 13.9%. 2,220 bottles produced. This wine will drink well for at least five years and probably longer.
Linden Vineyards / Our Wines / 2021 Vintage | 2021 Avenius Sauvignon Blanc