Can’t miss at first view that this is very cloudy – very unfiltered, and intentionally not lees-settled before bottling, nor cold stabilized. Minimal processing to the max. Provocative aroma of lemon custard, dry lemon peels, apple butter and day old bread crust. Taste grapefruit ice, lemongrass, quince paste and French pastry. Medium-bodied (would call it full bodied for SB), palate-coating, tangy and texturally pleasing. It’s tricky to make a delicious Sauvignon Blanc in this style, and Subject to Change has pulled it off.
40 year old, dry farmed SB vines grown outside of Hopland in very warm southeast Mendocino County. Partial carbonic maceration, rests for 5 months in tank. Unfined, unfiltered, “untouched.” No sulphur addition.
Subject to Change is a new winery started by four friends: two with a long history in the winemaking and wine sale business. Sourcing organic, if not biodynamic, grapes and ultra-natural winemaking are their M.O., including no sulphur additions, at all. From Day One, they earned their Hipster Wine Club card for all mentioned above and modest alcohols (12% in most cases). I was just introduced to the wines, trying four of them, and like the wines a lot. Their Sauvignon Blanc is my favorite…unfortunately 2017 will be the only vintage they make it from “Feliz Creek.”
