Red Mare Sauvignon Blanc Gamble Vineyard Napa Valley 2018

Anne Vawter and Jim Striegel started this project back in '07, and have been making truly exceptional whites and reds while flying a bit under the radar...which is a good thing! Anne is a highly accomplished winemaker having worked under greats like Heidi Barrett and Rosemary Cakebread, and it shows in the bottle here.

Sourced from one of the legendary vineyards for sauvignon blanc in the Napa Valley, the certified organic Gamble vineyard, this is truly one of the great deals on First Bottle right now! You'll want to stock up in a major way on this one once the corks start flying! Practically a “daily drinker” at this price, we can’t imagine a finer SB to be drinking for under $17, period! Stone fruit, apricot marmalade, passion fruit and candied lemon with toast hints of vanilla, beeswax, and subtle spice. This is round and gorgeously textured and defies expectation at its original $24 price delivering a weighty, stylish sauvignon blanc that can hang with the big boys (read $40+ per bottle) yet can be had for a song.

Stylish, crowd-pleasing, beautifully balanced...mmm! We scored an extra-nice price today, so, like we’re doing... Load up!

PAIRING IDEAS: Seared scallops would be absolutely perfect here. Do them two ways…start with raw as a sashimi-like appetizer (so good with this wine), thin-sliced, with the usual soy and maybe a bit of ginger, and then sear them simply and serve with a creamy risotto. Like THIS!

MUSIC SUGGESTIONS: Red Hot Chili Peppers fan? New album alert – the new single “Black Summer” sounds pretty good to us, especially sipping a cool sauvignon blanc in the spring sunshine!