The Story
Savagnin is the grape behind the Jura's famous whites, and there is almost none of it planted in California. Mike Lucia put some in the ground at Cole Ranch, America's smallest AVA, a single bowl of vines tucked in the hills between Ukiah and Anderson Valley where he is a partner in the vineyard. He farms two clones, vert and jaune, at around 1,500 feet, and the elevation shows: this is lean, crunchy and salty rather than fat, with melon, lemongrass and daffodil aromatics. Lucia trained under Wells Guthrie at Copain making famously precise Pinot and Syrah, then set out to do the same thing with grapes nobody expected. If you have been curious about Savagnin, this is where to start with California.
Description
Savagnin is the grape behind the Jura's famous whites, and there is almost none of it planted in California. Mike Lucia put some in the ground at Cole Ranch, America's smallest AVA, a single bowl of vines tucked in the hills between Ukiah and Anderson Valley where he is a partner in the vineyard. He farms two clones, vert and jaune, at around 1,500 feet, and the elevation shows: this is lean, crunchy and salty rather than fat, with melon, lemongrass and daffodil aromatics. Lucia trained under Wells Guthrie at Copain making famously precise Pinot and Syrah, then set out to do the same thing with grapes nobody expected. If you have been curious about Savagnin, this is where to start with California.
