2018 Grawlix Sauvignon Blanc Dry Creek Valley Sonoma County 750 ml

Ivan T.'s warehouse up in the Sonoma hills sure ain't Meadowood. At the end of a long dirt road, his facilities are about as bare-bones as they get in this AVA. Yet even though the brilliant, reclusive winemaker couldn't accommodate us till past 10 at night on our first visit, once we reached his hidden wooded enclave, we weren't in any rush to leave.

There's no walnut-paneled tasting room here, no outdoor patio, no signature burger on the menu. But there is classic rock blasting from the speakers while Ivan monitors the crush pad, a friendly Black lab shuffling around, a fridge stocked with Coors Banquet, and the brains of one of Sonoma's best winemakers to pick. 

Of all our friends in Sonoma, Ivan's also the most likely to drop an F-bomb—which is saying something. He picked the habit up during his years of service in the 82nd Airborne. But his wines are as finely structured as his language is coarse, blended from top-dollar fruit he gets on the sly from a deep network of growers. Our need to constantly disguise his cussing with “grawlix” in these offers gave us the name for this label. 

After starting out his career chasing high scores from the critics, today Ivan focuses his energy on delivering startlingly good weeknight values—case-buys so popular they don't last a month in your cellar.

Our first nocturnal visit had yielded a bombshell Cabernet. But that night he had also given us a sneak peek at a Sauvignon Blanc that hit the @#$%&! bullseye for summer porch sipping, so clean and fresh, with a lip-smacking lemon acidity that practically cried out for a Waldorf salad or lobster roll. "Don't even f#$@*ing mention it to them yet"—he told us, unsure if he'd get enough grapes to produce the inventory we wanted. Luckily, they came through.

Pale yellow-gold in the glass, the nose harmonizes fresh-cut grass, melon, peach, lime, and white flowers into a mouthwatering bouquet, tinged with slate and smoke. It’s weighty on the palate, bright, crisp, and grassy with a bittersweet burst of grapefruit peel. As our glass warmed, the exotic fruit—a signature of the 2018 vintage—got richer and riper, but was still undergirded with terrific energy and verve. 

“The grapes come from my buddies at _________. The vineyard’s an east-facing hillside plot in Dry Creek Valley with perfect exposure, lots of cool wind. They grow it so the leaves shade the grapes, which is why this is so #@&ing fresh. The soil is loamy and well-draining, mostly sedimentary rock deposits. When I drink Sauvignon Blanc, it’s got to be crisp as hell. Stainless steel, no malo—no creaminess, no butteriness.” He sniffed the glass. “Liquid rock, man. I’d kill for a half-dozen Wellfleets with this right now.”

It was past midnight by the time we left, Pink Floyd still ringing in our ears. Till we get our next invitation to Chez Grawlix, this Sauvignon Blanc is the pretty much the best deal going in crisp, ultra fresh under-$30 Sonoma whites—the result of putting blockbuster talent to work crafting everyman treasures.