Birichino Yount Mill Sémillon 2021

Napa Valley. When John Locke and Alex Krause realized they might find enough drinkers to join them in their old-vine quest, one of the first sites they turned to was the Pelissa/Hoxsey Yount Mill Vineyard in Yountville, southern Napa. The Pelissa/Hoxsey family have been farmers here since 1903 and planted their head-trained vines in 1962. Today Kendall Hoxsey farms the soils, and the Semillon is the only organic and dry-farmed parcel. Located at the cooler ‘Paris end’ of the Valley (the French Laundry is nearby), the site is on the fertile valley floor with its alluvial, sandy loam soils.

These Semillon vines are now 60 years old and yield tiny amounts of flavour-packed juice. Birichino picks on the cusp of ripeness to temper the power at low potential alcohols (typically between 11 and 12%). In doing so, the boys feel they can capture the best of both worlds; the varietal’s pithy freshness alongside its dashing honey-drizzled texture. Wild fermented and raised in a mix of steel tank and old barrel.

The 2021 blends the creamy, textured roundness of stone fruit and green fig with the zesty cut of lemony citrus and a nip of mouth-watering phenolic bite.