Lail Georgia Sauvignon Blanc 2018
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Connoisseurs'
Guide
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The 2018 Georgia Sauvignon Blanc is medium straw color, and has captivating white peach, vanilla bean, brioche and lemongrass aromatics. Rich in texture, there are intense flavors of apricot, lemon curd, and nectarine. It is powerful, sophisticated, round and long on the palate, with all the hallmarks of this wonderful Graves-inspired yet wholly California interpretation of the Sauvignon Blanc grape.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
What a complex nose this has, offering aromas of honeysuckle, hawthorn, smoke, dried apple and lime curd. Hints of spice and ginger. It’s full-bodied, creamy and elegant. Wonderfully balanced elements of ripe fruit and toast, dried herb and spice. Fantastic. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Coming from a dry-farmed, three-acre vineyard in Yountville, the 2018 Georgia Sauvignon Blanc was fermented and aged for 19 months in French oak barrels, 70% new. It slides seductively out of the glass with notes of pink grapefruit, white peaches and lemon drops plus hints of coriander seed, mandarin peel and honeysuckle. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a gorgeous satiny texture with intense stone fruit and citrus layers supplemented by loads of savory and mineral nuances, finishing long with a zesty lift.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The single vineyard 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Georgia is a more Bordeaux Blanc styled effort, with gorgeous notes of buttered lemon, grapefruit, salty minerality, and honeyed flowers. Rich, medium to full-bodied, and beautifully balanced, it's getting up there with some of the top Sauvignon Blancs coming out of California.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Lail’s flagship Sauvignon Blanc is so rich on the nose as to hardly be called reluctant, but it is richer yet and so amazingly layered when allowed time to unfold in the glass that its initial aromas seem a little closed-in by comparison, this extraordinarily deep and potent, wholly barrel-fermented effort transcends simple fruit and is a wine that, for all of its present fascination, is years away from reaching its best. Inspired by the great Bordelaise white wines from Graves, it is admittedly ambitiously priced, but, when it comes to intensity, sophistication and sheer depth, it has few, if any, peers.
Other Vintages
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Robin Daniel Lail’s heritage began in 1879 with the founding of Inglenook Vineyards by her great -granduncle, the iconic Captain Gustave Niebaum. By the early 1890s, this brilliant man’s obsession for achieving the pinnacle of excellence earned Inglenook wines the status of being considered by many as the finest produced in the country.
The determination to achieve excellence was carried forward through the decades following Niebaum’s death in 1908, with a crescendo in the thirty years following the repeal of Prohibition under the meticulous, passionate stewardship of John Daniel, Jr., Robin’s father. The collection of Cabernets coming from his years of ownership is still celebrated today as some of the finest red wines on earth.
Although Inglenook was sold in 1964, the passion for winemaking did not fade. Robin inherited her father’s respect for tradition. After working as the personal assistant to her mentor, Robert Mondavi, for five years, she left in 1982 to co-found Dominus Estate with Christian Moueix. The following year she co-founded Merryvale Vineyards with Bill Harlan, serving as president for a decade, before finally launching on her eponymous venture, Lail Vineyards, with her two daughters in 1995. Today her family honors his legacy with their relentless pursuit to produce wines second to none.
Capable of a vast array of styles, Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, refreshing variety that equally reflects both terroir and varietal character. Though it can vary depending on where it is grown, a couple of commonalities always exist—namely, zesty acidity and intense aromatics. This variety is of French provenance. Somm Secret—Along with Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc is a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. That green bell pepper aroma that all three varieties share is no coincidence—it comes from a high concentration of pyrazines (herbaceous aromatic compounds) inherent to each member of the family.
One of Napa Valley's most historic sub-appellations, Yountville spreads through some of the valley's ideal cooler sites and enjoys success with a handful of different and significant grape varieties.
Syrah competes strongly with Cabernet Sauvignon here for optimal vineyard real estate followed by Pinot noir, Pinot blanc and Sauvignon blanc.
This sub-AVA of Napa Valley is rich in the history that makes Napa Valley what it is today, and not just for red wines. Moët & Chandon entered the California winemaking business via Yountville in 1973 with the establishment Domaine Chandon. Their goal has always been to produce top quality méthode champenoise sparkling wines.
Christian Moueix, originally responsible for managing Chateau Petrus and La Fleur-Petrus in Pomerol, arrived in Yountville in the early 1980s. He formed a partnership with Rohin Lail and Marcia Smith, inheritors of Napanook vineyard from their father John Daniel of Inglenook in Rutherford. In 1995 Moueix became sole owner of Napanook and chose the name Dominus, which today produces some of Napa’s highest scoring, age-worthy Bordeaux Blends.