🏷️ Lot Overview
Region: Wooden Valley (Napa Valley)
Vintage: 2024
Blend: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
ChatGPT Original Source Guess: Laird Family Estate (Alt: Judd’s Hill or Ballentine Vineyards)
Wine Berserkers Guess: St Clair Brown
Alcohol: 14.0%
Oak Aging: 100% Stainless Steel (with lees aging)
Cam Price: $10.75 ($129/case)
Retail Estimate: $45
Drink Window: 2025–2028
🍷 Cameron’s Release Notes
Finally, a Sauvignon Blanc!
One of the more interesting dynamics of the wine business recently is that much of the “oversupply” has been concentrated in red wines, Cabernet Sauvignon in particular. Crisp whites, on the other hand, have been one of the few bright spots in wine sales over the past couple of years and, while I’ve kissed a lot of Sauvignon Blanc frogs over the last year, there hasn’t been much to shoot at.
Until now.
Lot 36 2024 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc is a beautiful, first-run, bottling blend sourced from a tiny boutique producer in Napa Valley. Like many producers, they are cutting back on how much they bottle, and we were able to squeeze 240 gallons out before their upcoming bottling.
Consequently, and similar to the Dry Creek Zinfandel, there will only be about 85 cases available. Normally, I wouldn’t bother with small lots like this, but when you combine the fact we haven’t offered an SB with the compelling nature of the wine, I had to bite. Actually, best damn SB I’ve tasted this year.
Sourced from a well-regarded single vineyard in the cooler Wooden Valley region of Napa just north of Solano County, Lot 36 is produced entirely in stainless steel with a good dose of lees aging, which creates exceptional mouthfeel while preserving the crisp mid-palate. It’s absolutely deeeelicious!
The wine retails for $45/bottle under its original label, and you’re getting the same wine for just $129/case DELIVERED. This one’s gonna go quickly, folks!
Tasting Notes
Lemon blossoms halo white peach and grapefruit with kaffir lime zest and mandarin orange complexing with air. Super smooth, supple, and beautifully balanced on entry, with ripe pear, guava, and lime conspiring with zesty acidity in a long, fleshy finish. The soft, round midpalate combines the fleshiness of pear and guava with the chalky, zesty, mineral-driven acidity, finishing crisp, clean, and long. Quite compelling, actually—like I said, deeelicious!
100% Sauvignon Blanc
100% Wooden Valley Single Vineyard, Napa Valley
14.0% alc.
~85–90 cases produced
🧠ChatGPT says
🔍 Source Guess: Laird Family Estate (Alt: Judd’s Hill or Ballentine Vineyards)
🎯 Rationale
- Vineyard Location: Wooden Valley is home to only a handful of Sauvignon Blanc vineyards. Laird Family Estate farms several parcels there and produces SB that fits the crisp, stainless-steel profile described here.
- Scale and Availability: A boutique, first-run lot of just 85–90 cases matches Laird’s limited single-vineyard bottlings and their pattern of occasionally selling off surplus wine.
- Style Match: Stainless steel + lees aging is Laird’s preferred Sauvignon Blanc vinification style—yielding supple texture and vibrant acidity, as Cam highlights.
- Price Parity: The original’s $45 retail aligns perfectly with Laird’s 2023–2024 Wooden Valley SB, often seen at that tier.
- Alt Candidates: Judd’s Hill and Ballentine Vineyards also farm in or near Wooden Valley, occasionally producing similar zesty, stainless-only SBs at similar retail levels.
Given the small lot, crisp profile, and Wooden Valley sourcing, Laird Family Estate is the most plausible origin.
⏳ Drink Window
Early Enjoyment:
Zippy and pure on release; starts drinking beautifully in Spring 2025 once bottling shock subsides.
Peak Drinking:
2025–2027, when citrus and tropical fruit meet lees-driven creaminess.
Hold Potential:
Through 2028, developing subtle honeyed and nutty tones.
My Call:
⏳ Drink window (post-bottle shock): 2025–2028 (peak 2025–2027)
🧑‍🤝‍🧑🍷 Wine Berserkers Guess: St Clair Brown Meigs Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc