1990 Kalin Cellars Reserve Sauvignon Blanc

Kalin Cellars is known among wine cognoscenti for small-batch, unfiltered wines that age at least a decade before release and continue to improve with age. Robert M. Parker Jr. has written that Kalin “wines have incredible aging potential, and I’ve got many an old vintage of Kalin in my cellars – the Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir – to attest to their ageability.” Kalin wines are made by the husband-and-wife team of Terry and Frances Leighton, two micro-biologists who in the 1970s responded to a newspaper advertisement offering free grapes from a Livermore vineyard to anyone who would take care of it. The pair started tending the vineyard and making wine. Working with very old Semillon vines the couple’s first commercial release was a 1979 Livermore Semillon, and today they also made Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, sparkling and dessert wines. The Leightons continue do all the work themselves, working with carefully sourced grapes in a small Marin County winery. They were early California advocates of unfiltered wines made with a minimalist approach, aged white wines and single vineyard wines. Kalin produces just 7,000 cases a year and has an adoring following among wine writers. In 2007 Vinous reviewed Kalin’s just-released 1997 Livermore Semillon like this:” Yes, this is a current release from the unhurried Terry Leighton. I'd love to serve this blind next to a bottle of Laville Haut-Brion.”

Mendocino AVA was established in 1984 and amended in 1989. It includes numerous sub-appellations. Mendocino AVA is entirely within Mendocino County, and the AVA is known for its Mediterranean climate. Vintners successfully grow Carignan, Charbono, Grenache, Zinfandel, Petit Sirah and Syrah. In cooler parts of the region Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are also grown. Mendocino County is home to nearly 600 vineyards, and many have been certified organic for decades, thanks to the region’s famous “green and sustainable” approach to agriculture and nearly everything else. Mendocino was named for 16th century explorers, a pair of brothers whose last name was Mendoza. Winemaking, however, didn’t start until the 19th century when some would-be gold miners decided it was more profitable to make wine than to pan for gold. Italian immigrants in the late 19th century continued to establish winemaking ventures.

This crisp, dry white wine hails from France but is grown in wine regions around the world. In California, it is sometimes called Fume Blanc; while in Sauternes, it is a component of their famous dessert wines.