2009 The Prince in his Caves
The Prince in 2009 is gloriously turbid. Cloudy is not even the right word. It is so nearly gelatinous that one truly wonders what strange techniques, what unspecified preparations, brought about this result.
The wine is simply a skin-fermented Sauvignon Blanc. The technique is the same for making red wine: keep the (beautiful, golden, honeysuckle-fragrant) juice in contact with the skin and seeds of the fruit for the whole fermentation. Circulate the juice over the skin and seeds a few times a day to make sure that all of their flavor goes into the wine. Everytihng comes from the fruit, from all of the fruit—not just the juice.
No additions or subtractions.
We do not understand why the wine is so cloudy, but we have learned that it is a characterisitc of the wine from the very beginning of the fermentation. The very juice is foamy even before fermentation.
This wine is more dense than the 2008, less orange than the 2007, more citrus-y than any previous incarnation. It is quite yuzu-like, without any sourness. It gives joy as unforeseen pleasure succeeds surprise and atopia.
186 cases produced