2006 Bennett Lane Winery Maximus White Feasting Wine
Mission Codename: A feast for the senses
Operative: Agent White
Objective: Revisit Bennett Lane and retrieve their delicious white ‘Feasting Wine’
Mission Status: Accomplished
Current Winery: Bennett Lane Winery
Wine Subject: 2006 Maximus White Feasting Wine
Winemaker: Rob Hunter
Backgrounder:
Napa Valley is well known as one of the best wine regions in the country. It is from here that the good folks from Bennett Lane Winery selected some amazing Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Muscat to carefully blend a white wine that captures the best of these varietals. A true feast for your senses.
Wine Spies Tasting Profile:
Look – Crystal clear pale straw yellow in color with a slightly thicker visual viscosity and when swirled, slow medium thick legs descend to the wine below.
Smell – Medium in intensity with bright and fresh aromas of tropical fruit, pineapple, lime and clementines that are layered over floral sweet orange blossom and honeysuckle notes.
Feel – Fresh and crisp, with bright and tart acidity leads off on this medium bodied, but well structured dry white.
Taste – Light and fresh flavors of grapefruit, mandarin orange and other tropical fruits softened by other sweet and ripe tree fruit are framed by a lovely minerality and a subtle but sweet and rich honey component.
Finish – Extremely clean and refreshing and of medium length with lingering tart grapefruit, minerality and a tiny touch of sweet honey.
Conclusion – The 2006 Bennett Lane Winery Maximus White Feasting Wine is a lovely, fresh and easy white wine that is the perfect start to any meal or for a light lunchtime wine. Classic Sauv Blanc aromas and flavors along with its distinctive minerality kicked up a notch on the complexity scale with the addition of some Chardonnay and a touch of Muscat.
Mission Report:
WINEMAKER INTEL BRIEFING DOSSIER
SUBJECT: Rob Hunter, Bennett Lane Winery
DATE OF BIRTH: January 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH: San Francisco, CA
WINE EDUCATION: UC Davis, BS, Winery & Vineyard Management (Three Majors of Enology, Viticulture & Agricultural Economics)
CALIFORNIA WINE JOB BRIEF: Internships Woodbury Winery, Dom. Chandon & Schramsburg. Asst Winemaker Groth V & W (83-86). Winemaker Robert Keenan(86-90), Lyeth(90-92) & Markam93-97). VP & Dir. Of Winemaking Sterling Vineyards(97-04). Winemaker @ Bennett Lane (2004 – present
WINEMAKING PHILOSOPHY: To highlight varietal fruit flavor by picking at flavor maturity rather than numerical ripeness.
SIGNATURE VARIETAL: Aromatic White and Bordeaux Red Wines
CAREER HIGHLIGHT: Helping make the Groth 1985 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, the first US Robert Parker 100 point Wine.
CAREER HIGHLIGHT: Being elected to be the President of the Napa Valley Wine Technical Society. I nearly flunked Biochemistry 101B, had a horrible time with Chemistry overall, and never thought or even still think of myself as a “technical” type of Winemaker!!
WINEMAKER QUOTE: ”My wines show my passion for perfection! One can never achieve true perfection, but they can strive for it through excellence. But you must always remember to keep your sense of humor!! Humor is infectious. Humor and Passion are the keys to life!”
WINEMAKER INTERVIEW
AGENT RED: Greetings, Rob. We are thrilled to be showing your White Maximus today. Our Operatives loved your Red Max, so thanks for allowing us special access to today’s wine!
ROB: Always a pleasure, Agent Red.
RED: Was there a specific experience in your life that inspired your love of wine?
ROB: Yes, during my First internship working for Russ Woodbury.
RED: And where did you learn the most about winemaking?
ROB: Probably working for Nils Venge at Groth. I learned about Winemaking at Davis, I learned how to make wine from Nils.
RED: What is your winemaking style or philosophy?
ROB: To highlight the Varietal’s fruit flavor while taking a minimalistic approach in the cellar. Don’t over oak or over work the wines.
RED: What wine or winemaker has most influenced your winemaking style?
ROB: The wines of Trimbach
RED: How long have you been making wine?
ROB: Since 1981, so that’s 29 years!!
RED: Who do you make wine for?
ROB: Predominantly Bennett Lane. That’s my “real job”!! I have my my own brand, Hunter III Wines, I also run my family’s Winery, Robert Hunter Winery, in Sonoma Valley, and I consult for Charter Oak Winery and Y3 Winery.
RED: Tell me, what makes the Napa Valley so special?
ROB: Napa Valley has such a vast array of soil types and micro-climates that make it a wonderful patchwork quilt of unique viticultural areas to chose from.
RED: What is one piece of advice that you would give to someone that is considering a career as a winemaker?
ROB: Study up, and find a small Winery where you can intern at. Then watch and learn. Make sure not to ask too many questions!! (Winemakers can be moody souls when they get busy!)
RED: What is occupying your time at the winery these days?
ROB: Worrying about the rain!!
RED: Please tell me a little bit about the wine we are featuring today
WINEMAKER: The White Maximus is a delightfully aromatic wine, 88% SB, 10% Chard, 2% Muscat. The Chard is for body and texture. The wine should be served well chilled. Don’t worry, the Muscat’s aromatics come right through and make the wine delightful even when cold!!
RED: What is your favorite pairing with today’s wine?
ROB: Ceviche is fantastic!!
RED: Yum! Please share one thing about yourself that few people know
ROB: I was almost an opera singer.
RED: Cool. Tell me, what is your favorite ‘everyday’ or table wine?
ROB: Chardonnay, Bennett Lane Reserve, of Course!!
RED: Right answer! Now, how would you recommend that people approach your wines, or wine in general?
ROB: With appropriate stemware. Poor stemware drives me crazy. You might as well drink it out of a coffee mug.
RED: If you could choose any one wine to drink (regardless of price or availability), what would it be?
ROB: Sauternes.
RED: What is the one question that I should have asked you, and what is your answer to that question?
ROB:What is your favorite type of cheese to go with wine? Morbier. It goes great with ANY wine, red, white, sauternes, even port!!
RED: Thank you so much for your time. We learned a lot about you – and about your wine. Keep up the great work, we are big fans!
ROB: Until next time, Agent Maximus, err, Red…
Wine Spies Vineyard Check:
The location of the Bennett Lane Winery can be seen in this satellite photo.
