2020 Acquiesce Picpoul Blanc – Her Best Picpoul Yet!
Tonight’s wine is one which has made my yearly Best Wines Tasted for years 2018, 2019 and 2020 for previous vintages. However, this was the 2020 Acquiesce Picpoul Blanc, which up until now I had not tasted. As usual this was a beautiful white wine, produced by winemaker/owner Susan Tipton. Visually this varietal is faint in color and almost translucent with a pale yellow hue. Picpoul means to “sting the lips” yet this wine was much more embracing and had a disguised light sweetness. The finish produced a full mouthful of wonderment. This wine was made to pair with oysters in Europe.
The Wine
On the nose pineapple was the predominate scent coupled with minerality. Lemon and a silky mouth filling sensation on the palate. This wine looks like a “light weight wine” but packs a delicate punch of enjoyment. For my taste, it is the best Picpoul Blanc she has produced! It received a score of 96 points and has won the following awards:
*Best White Wine & Double Gold Medal at 2021 American Wine Society Commercial Competition
*Best of Class & Double Gold Medal at 2021 Hilton Head Food & Wine Competition
*Double Gold Medal at 2021 SF International Wine Competition
*Double Gold Medal at International Women’s Wine Competition
All those awards for this distinctive and coveted wine which sells for $30 is a real bargain! Again, Susan can count on this wine to be in the Best Wines Tasted for 2022!
Wine and Food Pairing
Paired with a spicy Shrimp Pad Thai dish. The ingredients were flat rice noodles, virgin oil, minced garlic, uncooked shrimp, eggs, bean sprouts, red bell pepper, green onions, peanuts, chopped cilantro and lime juice. The Pad Thai sauce included fish sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, Sriracha and creamy peanut butter! Limes were plated to squeeze the juice over the top of the dish. Accompanying the meal was Thai-style green beans cooked in a skillet with the following ingredients: soy sauce, hoisin sauce, creamy peanut butter, crushed red pepper flakes, chopped shallot, minced fresh gingerroot, canola oil and chopped dry roasted peanuts. Also served was an Asian cabbage salad. This was an excellent pairing.
Susan Tipton continues to push the quality of her wines to extraordinary levels. Thank you!
Sláinte,
Michael
California Wines & Wineries 