Wine of the Month January 2009
                             Freakout, 2006 or 2007
                                (By Luna Vineyards)
                                   Napa Valley, California
                      
        
                   


Readers of this site probably realize I tend to feature red wines over white wines for our wine of the month series.  It's not that I do not enjoy white wines (indeed I do), but instead, I just tend to find them rather predictable and not too interesting to write about.  One oaky high quality California chardonnay tends to taste an awful lot like a hundred other California chards.  Same with Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, etc.  They do tend to vary from one part of the world to another, but within regions, they all tend to taste the same, once you adjust for price.  For my tastes, white blends are far more intersting than varietal whites.  The trouble is, the best blends tend to be European, and are usually expensive.  So it was with much delight that I found the Luna Vineyards Freakout.

I came across this wine quite serendipitously.  I had a dinner reservation at Bentley's Steak and Chop House in Encinitas during San Diego restaurant week.  Since I tend to be picky about the reds I drink with a nice steak, I tend to to utilize the restaurant's corkage service and bring a nicely aged Cab or Bordeaux.  So I had a nice 96 Spottswoode Cabernet in tow when we arrived at Bentleys.  I ended up seleting the shrimp cocktail appetizer, and my wife ordered sea bass for her entree.  So it seemed that a nice white was in order.  I perused the restaurant's wine list, and the 2006 Freakout caught my eye.  I've never had it, and in fact never even heard of it.  Seemed like an interesting name, and I asked the folks at the restaurant about it.  It was reasonably priced for a restaurant wine (about 30 bucks, I think).  The guy said "if you like Conundrum, you'll probably like this, and it's about half the price.  Enough said, I thought to myself, and ordered a bottle.  It was sensational.

The 2007 Freakout is a blend of Pinot Grigio, Ribolla Gialla, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay.  All grapes are from Napa, and each is fermented individually.  the barrels are then blended together a few months before bottling.  The wine's bouquet was unique, with some toasty Chardonnay-like nuances, but some steely-limey-minerally  Sauv-Blanc characteristics.  There were some floral notes and honeydo present also.  The flavors of all the wines seemed to dance around on the palate, with a constantly shifting flavor profile as the wine travels across the tongue.  Peach, honey, nectarine and lime seemed the dominant flavors.  The wine had a vibrant mouthfeel, and was freshing and complex at the same time.  The wine finished nicely.

I checked the retail price of the wine, and it seems to run about $15.  For this price, it is a steal.

4 stars.  Find out more about the wine from their web-site www.freakoutwine.com


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