The Mina Penélope Estate
- Wines are primarily made from organically grown estate vineyards tucked into a tight fold on the valley wall of Valle de Guadalupe. They source from additional select vineyards as needed from vintage to vintage. All are organically maintained.
- Production is minuscule; everything is done by hand by a husband and wife team who are the definition of the passion one finds in the small growers of the region.
- Vineyard site is 15 years old and Nathaniel Malagon who tends the vineyards comes from one of the oldest grape growing families in Valle de Guadalupe.
- Winemaker Veronica Santiago is one of the most well-respected winemakers in the valley and her pallet has shown itself in blind tastings to be one of the best. The wines she and Nathaniel are making are at once elegant, informed, and remarkably rustic old world in style. These wines follow closely the natural wine making style championed in the Loire and Saone valleys and emulate closely the body compositions and flavor profiles of the wines made in this area with minimal intervention.
Total production: 8 wines, 1,200 cases
2023 Sauvignon Blanc - Mina Penélope
Tasting Notes and Drinking Window:
My goodnes this is fantastic. Following the arc that is approaching closer and closer to the heavens, this vintage of Mina Penelope's Sauvignon Blanc is even better than the previous, with greater overall expression and slightly more taught acidity. It's drinking like a song on relase but eventhing in this wine says it will age very nicely for 7 years or more. Don't hesitate to get enough bottles to have the chance to witness how it ages.
230 cases made
Drinking window: upon release - 7 years
Vintage:
2023
Blend:
100% Sauvignon Blanc
Producer:
Mina Penélope
Winemaker:
Veronica Santiago - Mexican
Vineyards:
Grapes from the 2023 vintage were sourced from 2 vineyard sites:
- Valle de Guadalupe, ejido of San Antonio de Las Minas - Estate vineyards planted in 2016 at 900 ft elevation, 2 miles from the Pacific. Decomposed granite and clay soils. 450 plants. Semi-dryfarmed. 2020 marks the first harvest of Sauvignon Blanc from their own vines.
- San Vicente Valley, Campo Baja - Llano Colorado vineyard planted in 2015 at an elevation of 400 ft. Deep red soils rich in clay and some sand. 5 hectars
Winemaking:
Harvest was at the end of August, a full two weeks later than the previous few vintgtes. The wine was destemmed by hand and then pressed in their wonderful old if challenging basket press, before being racked of the gross lees and fermented in stainless steel tanks for 15 days. No malolactic. After fermentation the wine was racked and aged in stainless steel for 4 months.
Sulfites: 29 ppm
Farming:
organic, sustainable
Alcohol:
12.5%
