Random Ridge
2011 Olas Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon Sonoma Blend
White Blend
California: Sonoma Valley
Mission Briefing
Catch the wave
For the last 6 years, we’ve enjoyed a very special relationship with Random Ridge Winery and surfer-poet winemaker Bill Hawley. We just love Bill’s wines - and Bill’s not so bad, himself. In fact, Bill is rather a fascinating man who imparts his own character into each wine that he crafts.
In all of the Random Ridge wines that we’ve showcased, we’ve never had the pleasure to show a Random Ridge white wine. Not until today, that is. Today we have the privilege of bringing you Bill’s 2011 Random Ridge Olas White Blend, a crisp, brightly delicious wine that is summertime perfection.
Enjoy this very food friendly wine with a wide range of foods and be sure to enjoy the wine at a wide range of temperatures as well. Fresh out of the chiller, the wine is as fresh as a spring breeze. As it warms, it reveals added depth on the nose and on the palate.
Stock up on this budget-priced wine, the perfect compliment to your summer festivities.
Tasting Profile
| Look: | Light straw yellow with perfectly even coloration from the core of the wine out to the meniscus. |
|---|---|
| Smell: | Lively and bright on the nose, this wine leads with lemon zest and tropical notes of pineapple and green papaya. As the wine warms, subtle aromas of caramel and toasty sweetwoods reveal themselves. |
| Taste: | Very soft on the palate, especially as the wine warms, with Meyer lemon, green fig, green melon, orange rind and green papaya spreading to the far corners of the palate. |
| Finish: | Juicy and medium long, with pronounced citrus that persists longest at the back of the palate. |
| Pairing: | We enjoyed our sample bottles with an unusual pairing of veggie pizza with green peppers, mushroom and pineapple. It was fantastic. A baked whitefish or a summer citrus salad would also be quite wonderful with this food-friendly marvel. |
What the Winery Says
Olas is the Spanish word for waves. This wine is a Sonoma Valley field blend of 78% Sauvignon Blanc, 28% Semillon. No malolactic fermentation. Crisp and zesty, with flavors of melon, gooseberry, and fig, it’s great with oysters and Dungeness crab.
- Winemaker
- Bill Hawley
- Appellation
- Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California
- Fruit Blend
- 78% Sauvignon Blanc, 22% Semillon
- ABV
- 13.1%
About the Winery
Random Ridge produces fine wines from vineyards pioneered by the Hawley family in the Mayacamas mountains of Napa County, California. We produce wines in very limited quantities from vines meticulously maintained to reflect the essence of the soils in which they grow. We are farmers first but will surf anytime anywhere. Our dedication in the vineyards naturally segues into traditional winemaking practices in the cellar. We strive to enable the fruit to develop its inherent Buddha nature to become wine of complexity harmony & passion.
The vineyard’s intense fruit yields a limited production of exceptional wines that are spicy, extracted, and rich. As Bill Hawley says, they are “wines with alti-dude.”
Winemaker/poet/surfer Bill Hawley
Bill began to pioneer Random Ridge in 1980. At the end of a remote fire road at 2400 feet on California’s stunning Mount Veeder, he built a house for his young family with recycled lumber. The next year he cleared and planted a 10-acre vineyard right on the Napa-Sonoma County ridgeline. Today from the home and vineyard the views of Mount Tamalpais and the San Francisco Bay still dazzle the southern horizon and the sun sets over Sonoma Mountain.
From 1982 to 1988, Bill was employed at Carmenet Vineyard as vineyard manager, mentored by the late great Dick Graff. “…as part of my continuing education, Dick arranged for me to travel to Burgundy and Bordeaux for a month in 1986, visiting cutting-edge producers that shaped my wine aesthetic. Then in 1988 Susan and I traveled to New Zealand and I attended the Cool Climate Viticulture Conference, another mind-blowing trip.”
Bill credits his Chalone experience with introducing him to many winemakers that remain great friends.