2016 Pied a Terre Sauvignon Blanc Sonoma County 750 ml

Richard Luftig, the palate behind Pied à Terre, is one of New York City’s best sommeliers. In his over 20 years designing award-winning wine programs for the likes of Gramercy Tavern and Cookshop, he’s developed a killer instinct for what diners like to drink and what they’re willing to pay.

Since he began crafting his own wines, that insight—coupled with connections to elite California vintners like Steve Matthiasson and Clay Mauritson—has put him in the ranks of the most formidable producers of value wines today. With bottles on the lists at spots like Bar Boulud and Eleven Madison Park, his acumen speaks for itself. 

After a few years in bottle, his 2016 Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc is opening up beautifully, gaining a unique richness and complexity to go along with the freshness. It’s got a fleshiness born of Sonoma’s abundant sunshine, which is captured in a bouquet loaded with lemon curd, key lime, passion fruit, and lemongrass. The grapes’ cool-climate origins provide balance, endowing the wine with a tension and precision that you rarely find at this price. 

Luftig believes that when you minimize intervention, you get at an essence of the wine that’s almost spiritual—and this Sauvginon Blanc shows why that simple philosophy results in radical deliciousness. The wine’s grapes were sourced from Frostwatch Vineyard in Sonoma's Bennett Valley. Chilly coastal winds and fog create a brisk microclimate there that’s typically 10 degrees colder than the rest of Sonoma. 2016’s long, even growing season allowed for extended hang times that let the grapes achieve excellent ripeness while retaining a crisp acidity. Luftig let the wine ferment naturally, then aged it in neutral barrels to enhance texture.