2010 Saarloos & Sons "Hers" Santa Ynez Valley Grenache Blanc

Visit Saarloos & Sons immediately, enough said! We had a great time with the Saarloos brothers as we learned some family history and drank some kick ass wines! Check out the website to watch the great videos from the vineyards and see a really fun side of winemaking. This Grenache Blanc was a great wine, round and fresh with pear and citrus and acidity lending great balance to the wine.

This STUNNING Grenache Blanc, "Hers" is made in honor of Keith Saarloos's grandmother. It is unlike any other Grenache Blanc I've tasted. Pear, citrus zest, lychee, mineral, with medium plus acidity and fabulous balance. RACY, racy, racy! AWESOME.

Sometimes you just know. You just sort of have a feeling that everything is going to work out just fine. Some call it ESP, some say it is their gut feeling and some are just so braggadocios that they will tell you they knew all along. Well, whatever you want to call it I think all of us that visited Saarloos and Sons on our recent trip to the Central Coast back in late February knew pretty quickly that we were going to do some really cool stuff together. I originally heard a hot tip about this winery from Bob Lindquist at Qupé a while back and if Bob says someone is doing a good job than that is good enough for me. What I didn’t know was just how much this family is committed to making great wines, being true stewards to their vineyards all the while having ridiculous amounts fun and trying to pass their wines onto people in a truly different way. I mean cupcakes with wine pairings at the tasting bar??? Seriously rad. Gift Certificates made out of barrel staves. Totally bitchin’ right? Letting their 6 year old daughter decide when to begin harvest on their Sauvignon Blanc? Genius! Writing a sustainable 250 year business plan? That is just plain cray-cray. But even without all the coolness surrounding this family project I would have loved these wines every bit as much. The reason: purity. These wines are the essence of well farmed fruit made gently into even better wines. Sometimes when you taste wines with the people behind them it gives you a better context in which to understand the wines. Here we instantly saw the personality of the people in the wine: honest, dedicated, farmers, looking to do something classic but always with a modern spin. Basically what I’m trying to say is these awesome guys and gals make wines that perfectly personify that awesomness.