2019 “Eclipse” White Pinot Noir - Tolenas Vineyards & Winery

Juicy white peach, rose water, honeycrisp apple. White raspberry, wild thyme, fresh-squeezed lemonade. Delightfully delicate yet expressive outpourings of strawberry, honeydew, and Rainier cherry highlight a fresh and enticing fruit core playfully enhanced by hints of lavender and hydrangeas. Notes of baby's-breath and carnations further enhance pretty floral overtones aided by the distinct and delicious impression of fluffy cotton candy. Subtle suggestions of white sage expose a series of lightly herbal underpinnings that progress into a subtly saline and delicately mineral finish. Excitingly dry, tart, and crisp on the palate while remaining temptingly inviting and soft; exhibiting an intriguing silky yet weightless texture that radiates surprising elegance and complexity. Medium in body and carried by a vein of nicely elevated acidity. This 2019 "Eclipse" White Pinot Noir by Tolenas Vineyards & Winery is a wonderfully whimsical and unique single vineyard white from California's Suisun Valley.

Although Pinot Noir is almost always vinified into either red or rosé still wine, this legendary Burgundian variety can also make unexpectedly delicious white wine when handled and processed carefully. This bottling, crafted by Tolenas Vineyards & Winery using Pinot Noir grown on their Suisun Valley estate vineyard, is an extremely interesting and unconventional take on one of the world's most popular dark-skinned grapes. This atypical yet well executed wine contains no shortage of Pinot's textbook aromatic fruit and floral character, and yet presents only the lighter and more delicate components without being impacted by the more robust influences of skin contact. This remains expressive and flavor-packed while still enchantingly dainty and crisp, and elegantly executes on a production style that is very rarely attempted. Yum!