Groth Vineyards and Winery

The best thing about this wine is not the price – although given the quality of the wine – you’ve got to factor it into the satisfaction quotient. The wine’s lushness and balance makes it seem as if it’s a much more expensive wine. If I could afford it, I’d pay 30 bucks for this wine. (Dennis Groth, don’t go getting any ideas of raising the price.)

There are some sweet gooseberry aromas, while on the palate – which offers a degree of viscosity – we have some Crenshaw melon and a bit of greenness at the edges, which is an indication I think, that this wine will smooth out even more over the ensuing half-dozen years. Additionally, I also get a bit of licorice at the end.

After pressing and settling, 70 percent of the juice – from three different vineyards – was moved to small oak barrels and put on the lees for five months. Winemaker Michael Weis likes to call his used barrels “experienced” barrels, which in this case, are “retired” Chardonnay vessels that had gone through four or five vintages. The remaining 30 percent of the wine was made in stainless steel. The listed alcohol is 14.1 percent.

It’s Groth’s policy to not give out production figures, but according to its PR director Suzanne Groth, there’s “less than a 3-month (retail) supply” remaining. So don’t wait on this one!

Reviewed August 6, 2006 by Alan Goldfarb.