Karly Wines

It has become easy to make good Sauvignon Blanc at Karly. Just ferment the grapes very cold, and bottle as soon as possible. Usually, no more than seventy-five days from picking to finished in the bottle. This sounds simple, and it is, but don’t be fooled that simplicity infers mediocre quality. The whole principle is leaving it up to the grapes.

It took fifteen years to figure out how best to grow the grapes and then make the wine. Our early efforts resulted in some weird wine because we had to start from zero how to grow Sauvignon Blanc in Amador County. Others had the same problem and with Zinfandel grape prices soaring while Sauvignon stayed in place, it was only good sense to switch varieties. The Karly family are devout lovers of Sauvignon Blanc, so we reduced our acreage but stayed with the grape, and now we may be the biggest producer in the area. A few years later we figured out how to grow consistent tasty grapes. We then tried a number of production methods before finally admitting that simple is better and we could put out a very good bottle of wine at a reasonable price with the method above. Then, at about eighteen years age, the vineyard really kicked-in and Karly Sauvignon Blanc reached a new level.

The family finds more occasions to uncork a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc than any other wine we make. It has the slightly herbal and melon signature of the variety, but also features tropical fruit nuances like pineapple, banana, and citrus from our warmer climate and unique granite soil which separates it from other Sauvignon. It is clean and somewhat crisp so it does not hang on your palate. Not only are these flavors harmonious with a very wide range of white meats and appetizers, but we just like to sip it while preparing dinner -- ”cooking wine.” Then when serving the meat or pasta, we open the red wine. Red after white is always a winning way to sequence a meal.