California Wines & Wineries

2018 Acquiesce Ingénue – French and More French

Posted on August 30, 2020

The title is appropriate on a few levels. First Susan Tipton’s Acquiesce Winery features exquisite white French wines exclusively. When Susan Tipton founded Acquiesce Winery, she was on a mission unique to Lodi AVA and in fact, most viticultural areas. She sought to offer only white Rhone wines. She was chastised and admonished why she should not focus on solely white wines. Yet based on her passion and life experiences in France, she proceeded without wavering. She sourced and planted the best vines from the Chateau de Beaucastel of Chateauneuf du Pape on her quest. Today she has and continues making artisan and award winning boutique wines. Her awards are too numerous to list. For the full story on Acquiesce see a previous story at:

https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2018/09/09/acquiesce-winery-vineyards-an-unique-offering/

Secondly last night’s wine featured a combination of French varietals combined in her 2018 Acquiesce Ingénue. Don’t let the name fool you as its definition states “an innocent or unsophisticated young woman, especially in a play or film”. This is a unique white blend of Grenache Blanc, Clairette Blanche, Bourboulenc and Picpoul Blanc. The gestalt of this wine, when you combine the Grenache Blanc (pleasant minerality with hints of green apple and apricot), Bourboulenc, a rare varietal in the United States with as Susan states “…beeswax on the nose, citrus flavors of orange and key lime…..with a honeyed finish”, Picpoul (with pineapple, lemon custard and floral nose) and Clairette Blanche (again an uncommon varietal in California (with a medium-heavy viscosity, mild grapefruit and a floral bouquet) you have an exquisite and one of kind experience. Each of the varietals received an award winning Gold or Double Gold in various competitions. The Ingénue won Best of Class & Double Gold at the 2019 International Women’s Wine Competition plus Best of Class in the 2019 Sunset International Wine Competition. A great uncommon find and worthy of honor in any cellar!

Thirdly, the dinner was a French style chicken with sautted onion topped with mozzarella cheese. This was combined with fettucine pasta with mushrooms, baby asparagus and parmesan cheese,  accompanied with a fresh garden salad.  The meal and wine were extremely simpatico. Vive la France!!

Sláinte,
Michael

https://californiawinesandwineries.com

https://www.acquiescevineyards.com/