2018 Ashes & Diamonds Napa Valley No.4 Blanc

Vibrant and agile from the first look, this awakens the senses with tingling tension and bright energy. Citrus and florals align with notes of honey and a backdrop of toasty spice, while filigree textures weave throughout. Time in bottle has served this wine well, it’s beautifully balanced, unfurling with complexity and finishing with an elegant but lengthy close.

One could never accuse Ashes & Diamonds of not aiming of the stars—this wine is a homage to the white wines of Domaine de Chevalier, an equal blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc sourced from two sites in the southern Napa Valley. The Semillon component is sourced from the oldest vineyard of the varietal in California. Located in Yountville, Kendall Hoxsey’s Yount Mill Vineyard is home to 1962 vines that are head-trained, dry-grown and extremely low-yielding—Khaledi describes the fruit as “simply majestic”. To this, Steve Matthiasson blends mature-vine Sauvignon from the Ashes & Diamonds vineyard in Napa’s Oak Knoll district. Both vineyards benefit from the cool, foggy mornings and afternoon sea breezes rolling in from San Pablo Bay, which serve as a moderating influence and aid in preserving natural acidities and racy freshness.

In the cellar, Matthiasson naturally co-ferments the parcels in barrel. The wine spends 10 months on fine lees in French oak (25% new) with no bâtonnage before it goes to bottle. Unusually for a white, it is released after three years in bottle, during which time the pungency of Sauvignon Blanc takes a back seat to the key lime pie and lemongrass characters of the Semillon. Number 4 stands for the wine’s fourth release. According to its crafter, it is “fully ripe and textured, yet bright, zesty and supremely age-worthy”.