Massican Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley 2019

“How to describe Dan Petroski’s Massican wines? They’re from California, but somehow don’t taste like it. Ostensibly they’re modeled on the wines of Friuli, in northern Italy, but they don’t taste quite Italian either. The Massican wines are white wines. They’re crisp wines, high in acid. They’re fresh — neither laden with creamy richness nor beset by savory funk. Words like “clean” and “pure” come to mind. Saltiness appears. So does bright, relentless fruit.”

— Esther Mobley, SF Chronicle

This excerpt comes from Esther Mobley’s 2017 Winemaker of the Year profile of Dan Petroski, who is making some of the best expressions of Italian whites in America, if not the entire world. The spark for this project was a few seasons of work spent in Sicilian wine cellars, followed by a move out to California where he eventually landed a job at the prolific Larkmead Vineyards. The Massican line, however, is a deeper passion - highlighting the potential of white Italian varietals in California. Though sauvignon blanc might not seem uniquely Italian - it is grown in basically every winegrowing country on earth - it is an everyday staple in the region of Fruili. This sauvignon blanc comes from grapes farmed at two vineyards in Napa Valley where the temperature fluctuations are the most extreme - warmest during the day and coolest at night, which lends a freshness and focus to the wines that pays homage to the tart, refreshing wines of northeast Italy. This delivers effusive flavors of briny lemon and green apple, with mouthwatering acidity and cool, elegant notes of white pepper, orange blossom, lemongrass, and mineral. Sleek and satisfying. Sustainably grown, vegan.