California Wines & Wineries

2022 Acquiesce Winery Picpoul Blanc

Posted on July 23, 2023

The Winery and Background 

Acquiesce Winery continues to impress with their white wine portfolio on French varietals.  There is so much to state about Susan Tipton, owner and winemaker of Acquiesce Winery. The key takeaway is that she established her winery in Acampo (just north of Lodi) with the expressed purpose of bringing French white wine varieties to market. Lodi had been primarily known for red wines, but she turned heads with some of her unique wines such as Picpoul, Clairette Blanche, Ingénue (blend of Grenache Blanc, Clairette Blanche, Bourboulenc & Picpoul Blanc), Roussanne and more. Here are some reviews of her wines and her impact:

https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2020/10/31/acquiesce-winery-vineyards-finding-a-niche-with-unique-white-wines/

https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2020/08/30/2018-acquiesce-ingenue-french-and-more-french/

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Her awards are too numerous to list for her wines! However two recent awards stand out for Susan Tipton: 2022 Woman Winemaker of the Year by International Women’s Wine Competition. The other is being named 2023 Winery of the Year by Visit Lodi.

The Wine “Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson

_{Photo from Acquiesce Winery}

Previous vintages has made my yearly Best Wines Tasted for years 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022. However, this was the 2022 Acquiesce Picpoul Blanc, which up until now I had not tasted with food.  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 on the finish. The finish produced a full mouthful of wonderment. This wine was made to pair with oysters in Europe with its bright acidity.

On the nose lemon & pineapple were the predominate scent coupled with flower blossoms. Lemon and a silky mouth filling sensation on the palate accompanying with a light green apple taste. This wine looks like a “light weight wine” but packs a delicate punch of enjoyment.  For my taste, it is an exquisite delicate wine and the previous vintages have scored 98 points and have won the following awards:

*Double Gold – 98 pts – 2022 International Women’s Wine Competition

*Gold – 96 Pts – 2022 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition

*Gold – 90 pts – Orange County Wine Competition

All those awards for this distinctive and coveted wine which sells for $34/bottle and is a real bargain!  Again, Susan can count on this wine to be included in my Annual Best Wines Tasted for 2023 which comes out mid-December.

The Food and Wine Pairing   “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon

_{Photos ©Michael Kelly}

First paired with an appetizer of Fried Calamari with fried tubes & tentacles, shrimp, fennel, green beans and lemon aioli (two pictures back). The other was one of the specials at Verona18 last Friday night, a grilled Swordfish with pineapple jalapeño relish with brown rice and sautéed seasonal vegetables. So as usual with seafood dishes, I either generally choose a full body Chardonnay, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc or anyone of Susan Tipton’s exquisite white wines. Tonight the 2022 Picpoul Blanc was perfectly suited and aligned with this entrée. The fish was cooked to perfection and the wine with its bright acidity provided a beautiful partnership. 

Sláinte,

Michael

https://californiawinesandwineries.com

https://www.acquiescevineyards.com/

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