2017 Cotes de Pomar BLANC
This wine is an excellent addition to our reserve label portfolio. Drawing Viognier and Grenache Blanc from our estate vineyard, the addition of Roussanne from the new Merrill Creston Ridge Vineyard allowed us to create a wine reminiscent of a white Côtes du Rhône. Winemaker Jim Shumate blended these three exceptional wines to bring out the best and most vital aspects of all three into a complementary union.
This wine shows the best attributes of our Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, and Viognier. Complex tropical fruits, dancing acidity, and spiciness.
Aromas of key lime and coconut with tropical notes transition into a full palate loaded with citrus and stone fruit flavors. Exciting pairings for this wine are exotic cheeses with white truffle oil, vegetables in a cream sauce, and succulent and spiced fish or chicken.
| Vintage | 2017 |
| Varietal | White Rhone Blend |
| Varietal Composition | 40% Roussanne, 40% Grenache Blanc, 20% Viognier |
| Appellation | Paso Robles |
| Vineyard | Pomar Junction & Creston Ridge |
| Acid | 6.7 g/L TA |
| PH | 3.39 |
| Aging | 4 Months in Neutral Oak |
| Residual Sugar | .60 |
| Alcohol | 13.77% |
| Volume | 750 ml |
| Bottling Date | 03/23/2018 |
| Cases Produced | 200 |
Made entirely from hand-picked, estate-grown hillside grapes from our Creston Ridge and Pomar Junction vineyards with limestone shale rock soils. The cooling Templeton Gap breezes moderate summer temperatures and combine with our Linne Calado soils for ideal high quality wine grape growing conditions.
Jim Shumate, Winemaker
A native of Southern California, Jim's first wine job was working in the barrel room at Meridian Vineyards, where his budding career was greatly influenced by legendary winemaker Chuck Ortman. After several vintages with Meridian as Senior Lab Technician and Senior Barrel Technician, Jim moved on to become Cellar Master and Consulting Winemaker at Templeton Wine Services (where he first met Pomar Junction CEO, Dana Merrill). From 1999 to 2008, this full-service processing facility afforded Jim the opportunity to work with a wide range of varietals, styles and volumes – from small, high-end lots to several-thousand-case productions.
While making wine for Templeton Wine Services, Jim was also busy working toward a degree in Enology at Cal Poly University. His involvement at Cal Poly eventually led to an invitation to develop and manage the Cal Poly pilot winery which opened in 2008. As Cellar Master, Winemaker, and Lecturer for the new campus winery, Jim instructed students on procedural operations of all winery equipment, demonstration of lab analysis and interpretation of results. Additionally, Jim co-taught advanced enology classes, operated and repaired all winemaking equipment, and established a new bottling line for the campus winery. After several vintages of hands-on teaching from fruit to bottling, Jim took the position of Winemaker at Pomar Junction in July 2011.
He lives in Paso Robles with his wife and children.
