How to describe Dan Petroski’s Massican wines? They’re from California, but somehow don’t taste like it. Ostensibly they’re modeled on the wines of Friuli, in northern Italy, but they don’t taste quite Italian either. The Massican wines are white wines. They’re crisp wines, high in acid. They’re fresh – neither […]
2016 Hyde Vineyards: With its sunny citrus fruit, this wine shows impressive freshness in a Napa Valley Chardonnay. The juicy orange flavor is shadowed by some toasty oak character, but overall this is bright, lean and tight, a wine to pour with pan-roasted sand dabs. 91 points. Named “Year’s Best […]
We’re looking at the diversity of white wines available in California beyond Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Grapes like Chenin Blanc and Grenache Blanc, previously used mainly in blends, are now known for aromatic, distinctive and refreshing white wines that are more likely to be bottled solo. The Lang & Reed […]
2016 Annia – Annia is a white blend consisting mostly of Ribolla Gialla with some Tocai Friulano and a dollop of Chardonnay. True to the lean Massican style, Brix at harvest ranged from 19.8° to 21.6°. Fruit was whole-cluster pressed and barrel fermented in French oak, mostly neutral, and some […]
Massican #34. Massican borrows its name from Monte Massico, a coastal mountain in Campania, in southern Italy, where Bacchus himself reportedly once hung out — but the inspiration for its wines comes from the north, from wineries in the Friuli region. Not much more than half a dozen years into […]
2016 Annia: 92 points. The 2016 Annia is a blend of 60% Ribolla Gialla, 31% Tocai Friulano and 9% Chardonnay. This is the second vintage where winemaker Dan Petroski has selected Ribolla Gialla as the primary varietal in this blend. As this begins to open it releases pretty aromatics of […]
A retrospective look at the white wines of Massican by Elaine Chukan Brown (ECB). In 2009 Dan Petroski launched the entirely white-wine-focused brand Massican, sourcing fruit from iconic Napa Valley vineyards. In 2012, fruit from Russian River Valley was added to ensure adequate quantities for the various cuvées. Although Massican […]
Wines to Know: 2016 Massican Annia. Every person I’ve ever served this wine to has said the same word—fascinating. And that’s what I wrote, too, the first time I tasted this intriguing fresh dry white, a blend of two Italian grapes – ribolla gialla and friulano – with a small […]
Somm-approved bottles that prove the region can do edgy and innovative or rustic and raw as well as any progressive wine stronghold. Napa Valley may still be home to California wine country’s most prized real estate, but ask any young oenophile well-versed in Champagne growers and Beaujolais crus how often […]
In the time since I moved to Napa Valley nearly seven years ago, a great many things have changed. Shortly after my arrival, Robert Parker ended his decades-long tenure as the preeminent California wine critic and passed the reins to his then-heir apparent Antonio Galloni. A few years later, the […]
