2017 Trousseau

Readers will find a number of new entries in this year's lineup from Sandlands and Tegan Passalacqua. As always, the focus is first on California heritage sites and then lesser known varieties. The new Chardonnay and Merlot are exceptions to the latter, but those wines are both homages to Coombsville, where Passalacqua grew up. Picking on the early side, vinification with whole clusters for most of the reds and aging in neutral oak yield wines of energy and character. Pricing remains incredibly fair, but finding the wines will be a challenge, as they are made in such minuscule quantities. The 2017s aren't as strong across the board as the 2016s, but these are all gorgeous wines that make the most of what Mother Nature provided as a starting point.