2016 Massican Gaspare Friuli Colli Orientali White Wine 750 ml

The Napa Insider’s Italian Inspired White

I subscribe to the Massican mailing list for the same reason that many of Napa's elite winemakers do, and it isn't because Dan Petroski, 100-point winemaker from Larkmead and Massican’s founder, is the San Francisco Chronicle’s reigning Winemaker of the Year. It’s not because of the Michelin 3-star restaurants—The French Laundry and The Restaurant at Meadowood among them—that serve Dan’s wines. It’s because Dan produces wines like the 2016 Massican Gaspare Friuli Colli Orientali White Wine, one of the freshest, most interesting white wines made by any American winemaker today. Gaspare is a special project of one of the hottest young brands in California, and I am proud to be able to offer it to Wine Access clients, as it is typically only offered to Dan’s mailing list and select restaurants. Just $29.99 per bottle.

The Massican line consists almost exclusively of Dan’s Italian-influenced California white wines, and the 2016 Gaspare, from the world-class Italian white wine region of Friuli, is just his second wine from the country where he began his journey. The refreshing and food-friendly Massican wines are served at just about every winemaker’s party in Napa, and a pantheon of vintners—old-guard and new—can be spotted at the allocation pickup parties Dan throws at his house. These are not just signs of how the Valley admires Dan, but also of how it absolutely adores these delicious wines.

The world is starting to recognize Dan Petroski for the same thing that I have always admired him for: That he approaches things with a different frame of mind, and is unafraid to go in new directions. This attitude is what inspired him to jump from a publishing career to the wine world, and what keeps him pushing forward when he could easily rest on his 100-point score at Larkmead and on the glowing press that now celebrates his every move—not to mention the Michelin-rated restaurants that serve his wines.

Inspired by his nostalgia for Italy, Dan launched Massican to celebrate traditional Northern Italian varieties that are rare in California. Gaspare brings Dan back to Italy, the cradle of his career, to make a true Italian wine, a blend of Tocai Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, and Chardonnay that combines the expressiveness and rule-flouting style of two of his biggest influences: Domaine Didier Dagueneau of Pouilly-Fumé and Sean Thackrey of Northern California. Massican is an affordable luxury—it is the crisp, refreshing, impeccably made white and there is no winemaker in greater demand than Dan Petroski right now. Securing this allocation is a huge win—not just for me personally, but for the Wine Access clients who get to take part in this exhilarating wine.