2017 Ashes & Diamonds Blanc №3 Napa Valley 750 ml

Ashes & Diamonds’ determination to be one of the great wines of Napa Valley showed in one of the very first moves they made: They hired Steve Matthiasson, San Francisco Chronicle and Food & Wine Winemaker of the Year and one of the undisputed white-wine masters in California. 

One single sip of the 2017 Ashes & Diamonds’ Blanc №3 ratifies their decision. A Sauvignon Blanc-Sémillon blend that belongs among the best from Napa Valley—think Lail, think Spottswoode, think of $100+ wines like Domaine de Chevalier and Smith Haut Lafitte from Bordeaux. We were enraptured when we tasted it, compelled by its complexity and its beautiful tension between power and electric minerality. 

With a nose of tropical fruit, this is an unmistakably Californian wine, with deep minerality, savoriness, lemon blossom, and beeswax that make it a clear homage to great white Bordeaux. Without a doubt, it demonstrates why Ashes & Diamonds has turned into one of the hottest wineries in the valley.

This level of white wine from Steve Matthiasson is no shock. His wines grace the lists of restaurants like The French Laundry and Gramercy Tavern, and he has earned a huge list of accolades: Wine & Spirits Magazine’s Top 100 Wineries, and a slew of James Beard Award nominations. It’s no wonder that Ashes & Diamonds owner Kashy Khaledi recruited him to join this no-expense spared project.

Ashes & Diamonds has a bold goal: to bring back the elegant, old-world inspired wines that originally made Napa famous in the ‘60s and ‘70s—and they’ve more than succeeded with this wine. While most of their production is sold through their beautifully minimalist tasting room and devoted wine club, our long relationship with Steve allowed us to secure a small quantity that we get to offer to you.

Anyone tasting No. 3 would conclude that the hype around the winery is deserved. This wine is clearly inspired by the great bottles of Pessac-Léognan, with barrel-fermentation of the Sauvingon Blanc and Sémillon that split this blend. Those grapes come from three carefully selected vineyards in the cooler Yountville and Oak Knoll sections of Napa, perfect for letting grapes fully develop while maintaining freshness. Steve picks them early to maximize minerality, then builds texture with a ten-month stay in the same barrels they ferment in, which includes a touch of new oak for power and complexity.

In naming Steve the Winemaker of the Year, the San Francisco Chronicle predicted: “If one person stands to rewrite the trajectory of California wine—in Napa's luxurious heart, no less—it is Steve Matthiasson.” Ashes & Diamonds’ Blanc is one of his most impressive bottles yet, and although it’ll age beautifully in your cellar, it won’t last long here.