Matthiasson "Yount Mill Vineyard" Napa Valley Semillon 2021

This wine is an homage to the long-aging Semillons of yester-year — low alcohol, mineral, with a lovely beeswax texture and a flinty nose with a hint of dried fig. The grapes were very lightly whole-cluster-pressed and fermented in well-loved neutral barrels. To preserve all of the acidity the wine was prevented from going through malolactic fermentation. After ten months of barrel aging, the wine was filtered to prevent further malolactic fermentation, and then bottled. Intended to age, we held it in bottle for an additional year before release, but it will reward much longer aging. The Yount Mill Vineyard was one of the first certified organic vineyards in Napa Valley — they never stopped farming organically back in the post-war period when folks started using the new-fangled chemicals. Located in deep soil near the Napa River, the old head trained vines are completely dry-farmed and tended with minimal intervention — they are allowed to grow a little wild. The cool winds are drawn up the valley over the vineyard, allowing white grapes to maintain their vibrant freshness.