About 2019 Niner Sauvignon Blanc:
Beautiful dry white wine by the winemaker Molly Bohlman.
Tasting Notes:
Beautiful dry white wine with pineapple, lemongrass, kiwi and green melon flavors
Barrel Selection:
Niner Sauvignon Blanc was aged for 5 months in 20% neutral oak barrels.
Growing Notes:
Higher than average rainfall led to vigorous canopy growth and higher than average yields. To achieve a balance of ripeness and acidity, the winemaker removed leaves around the Sauvignon Blanc clusters to increase sunlight exposure. They did this early in the growing season so that the grapes were able to build up a ‘sunscreen’ effect and internally protect themselves from the heat. We picked the grapes in two passes, 10 days apart starting in late September.
Harvest Dates: September 25th and October 1st, 2019
Winemaking Notes:
The goal was to create a wine that balances two flavor personalities of Sauvignon Blanc: grassiness and tropical fruit. The grapes were hand harvested and whole cluster pressed. Fermented 80% in stainless steel and 20% in neutral oak barrels. The maker used three different strains of yeast to coax out different flavors in the fermentations. They did not put the wine through malolactic fermentation and aged it 5 months in tank and neutral barrels prior to blending, filtering and bottling in late February of 2020.
About The Winery:
Niner Wine Estates is a family owned estate winery. The family aspires to make great wine from two distinct vineyard sites in the central coast of California.
Their flagship blend is Fog Catcher and they are focused on estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir & Chardonnay.
The vinery’s goal is to grow high quality grapes and make delicious wines that are intentionally crafted to tell the story of each vintage and vineyard. In the winery, they strive to preserve the most unique qualities of each vineyard and vintage. They want to express those qualities alongside elegance and balance, using minimal inputs.
Niner family considers itself lucky to have two Winemakers. Winemaker Molly Bohlman is responsible for the wines from Jespersen Ranch and Patrick Muran is responsible for Heart Hill Vineyard & Bootjack Ranch wines. This division by vineyard allows them to fully focus on bringing the intricacies of each site forward in the wines. All wines are fermented, aged and bottled at the estate winery located at Heart Hill Vineyard.
Richard Niner grew up as one of eight children raised on a farm in rural West Virginia. He spent his childhood working on the farm to provide food for his family, and eventually became one of the first in his family to attend college. He graduated from Princeton and then Harvard Business School. He then began a long and respected career building small businesses across a variety of industries, from sunglasses to machine parts.
He eventually met Pam in New York City, while she was working as a magazine editor after graduating from Smith College in Massachusetts. The pair married and had two children, Andy & Katy.
In the early 1990s, one of Richard’s ventures introduced him to the beauty of the Central Coast. The people here reminded him of his upbringing in West Virginia, and he saw the high potential for the area to compete with premier wine regions like Napa, which was booming at the time.
This return to farming was a return to his West Virginia roots, and in his mind one of the ultimate crops to work with. He purchased his first vineyard in 2001 and spent the next decade building out the rest of the business and hiring a team to help run it. Our tasting room & winery opened in Spring of 2010 and remains the heart of our estate.
Eventually, Andy took over the day-to-day management of the business and they remain family owned and operated today.
