Crunchy nectarine, root spices, juicy orange slice. White strawberry, young pine tree, tart apricot. Fresh thyme and mint leaf, cherry blossom and wild rose. Complex and multidimensional fruit begins the attack, exhibiting pineapple flesh, Fuji apple, and cantaloupe complemented pleasantly by pretty perfumed floral tones. Tides then subtly shift towards savory as shaved ginger, arugula, and bitters provide interesting contrast. Nicely spiced and surprisingly nuanced showing soil tones of ash and iron that emerge after a bit of investigation. Intense and flavorful yet delicate and understated. This 2018 "Eclipse" Suisun Valley White Pinot Noir by Tolenas Vineyards & Winery is an interesting, unique, and delicious wine from Solano County.

Located opposite the Vaca Mountain Range from Napa Valley, the Suisun Valley appellation is a wonderful and underappreciated winegrowing region that produces some spectacular fruit. Many parts of the Suisun Valley benefit from similar climate and soil as Napa and wine from these areas has proven to be of exceptionally high quality. This bottling, crafted by Tolenas Vineyards & Winery using 100% Pinot Noir sourced from a cool section of their estate vineyard in the Suisun Valley, is an extremely fun and adventurous wine. While Pinot Noir is a black skinned grape typically used to produce red wine the Tolenas team opted to take it a different direction here, and instead crafted it into a white wine by gently pressing the fruit and removing the skins before they had the chance to impart any color. The resulting wine is quite exciting, presenting high-toned and complex fruit along with interesting savory components. This is a terrifically unique wine from a great appellation and has left us quite impressed.