2007 Bokisch Vineyards Albariño Clement Hills

Sommelier Journal

• By Randy Caparoso
  August 2008, (See more on Sommelier Journal...)

  (Bokisch Vineyards Albariņo Clements Hills, Lodi) It might not make sense that a California Albariño should cost twice as much as a Spanish Albariño, but this wine is more than worth your guests’ attention. It’s a true breakthrough wine—the first American-grown Albariño to capture the crisp-yet-lithe, balanced, flowing stone-fruit qualities that come so easily to Spanish growers, but with unique, tropical, creamy-textured California accents (although the Bokisch sees no oak). It has a pure, almost epiphanic deliciousness, bursting from the core with flowery, wild-honeyed, apple-pear fragrances and mandarin-rind nuances that transition into a fresh-grapefruit, vivid-fruit lushness on the palate. This Albariño is sourced from Clements Hills at the far eastern edge of Lodi, a terroir extending into the lower Sierra Foothills. Hot Picks