Bodkin Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc (375ML half-bottle) 2013
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Acidic on the nose, like a cider, this late-harvest wine made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc retains 130 g/L residual sugar, and is rounded and plush. Appropriately sweet, it is completely balanced, tasting purely of baked pear, finding a hint of nutmeg on the lengthy finish.
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2021-
Wilfred
Wong
The story of Bodkin Wines starts on a muddy field outside the town of Agincourt in the north of France on the 25th of October, 1415. Small in numbers, starved for days and ravaged by sickness an English army of 5,000 peasant archers and 1,000 knights, led by their 28-year-old King found itself trapped. Sanding between English and the safety of their land was an army of nearly 30,000 of the wealthiest and best armed men in all of France ready for battle--giddy to collect the ransom of a king. But no ransom was to be collected. For on that day, the feast day of Saints Crispin and Crispinian, Henry V and his army of peasant bowmen with their armor-piercing bodkin-pointed arrows gave history a story that inspired Shakespeare to pen a legend for the ages.
584 years later, Chris first heard this story in Mr. Alberty's English Literature class at Washington High in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Bravery and brotherhood, arrows and axes, stirring speeches and a smoking hot French princess--the play Henry V had everything an 18 year old nerdling could have wanted--he was hooked. The play's most famous quote ''We few, we happy few'' has been his motto since he started working his way up through the world of wine production in 2003.
Founded in 2011 by journeyman cellar hand and self-taught Winemaker Chris Christensen, Bodkin Wines disrupted the sparkling wine scene with America’s First Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc in 2012. With one foot rooted in wine science and the other in craftsmanship, Christensen’s minimalist philosophy guides his signature style of high acid, low alcohol wines. As an African-American winemaker Christensen works to promote diversity and inclusion in the wine industry through speaking engagements, podcasts and mentorship opportunities for aspiring vintners and winery owners.
Apart from the classics, we find many regional gems of different styles.
Late harvest wines are probably the easiest to understand. Grapes are picked so late that the sugars build up and residual sugar remains after the fermentation process. Ice wine, a style founded in Germany and there referred to as eiswein, is an extreme late harvest wine, produced from grapes frozen on the vine, and pressed while still frozen, resulting in a higher concentration of sugar. It is becoming a specialty of Canada as well, where it takes on the English name of ice wine.
Vin Santo, literally “holy wine,” is a Tuscan sweet wine made from drying the local white grapes Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia in the winery and not pressing until somewhere between November and March.
Rutherglen is an historic wine region in northeast Victoria, Australia, famous for its fortified Topaque and Muscat with complex tawny characteristics.
A multifaceted and highly reputable sub-region of Sonoma, Dry Creek Valley is responsible for a wide range of wine styles—both red and white. One of the smallest AVAs in California, Dry Creek Valley has a winning combination of ideal geography and climate. Fertile, well-drained soils create concentrated varietal character while long, warm days, bookended by cool nights, allow grapes to reach full phenolic ripeness and balance. The warm and welcoming appellation is home to a number of family-owned vineyards and wineries that place a strong emphasis on sustainable farming practices.
Zinfandel reigns supreme here and still produces in a great number of very old vineyards—often 100 years old or older. These old vines create a powerful, voluptuous and sultry wine unlike those of any other region. Sauvignon Blanc, the valley’s signature white grape, also performs exceptionally well. Many other varieties grow comfortably here, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache and Syrah. Petite Sirah is often found in blends with Zinfandel.