2024 Union Sacré, Dry Riesling, Santa Barbara County.
Union Sacré joins a new wave of fine California dry Rieslings, as mentioned before, like Tatomer, Desire Lines, Stirm, Reeve, Tudor and Cobb, with their latest Santa Barbara County Dry Riesling being a brisk, electric and delicately aromatic example with familiar layers of Kiefer lime, Meyer lemon, rosewater, wet stones, chamomile, subtle tropical fruit and tangy verbena. This tightly focused lighter framed version is bright pale gold colored in the glass and is filled with mouth watering acidity, making it refreshing, low alcohol and perfect with briny sea foods and lighter Summer food choices. I first tried Union Sacré’s Riesling with their 2016 vintage, which impressed me then, but this one shows the progress nicely and reaches a new level of quality without trying to hard or with any pretense. Typically for their Dry Riesling wines, Union Sacré employs skin contact for one day and then press the juice the next day, with a long and gentle press cycle for more extraction of flavors. The Rieslings usually are fermented in a stainless steel tank at low temperature for close to 12 days on fine lees, after which the wine spends up to 9 months in 600L neutral French oak and then bottled unlined and unfiltered. This Santa Barbara Dry Riesling comes from a variety of sources throughout the county, but the two top sites for Union Sacré include Rancho Sisquoc, in Santa Maria and Kick On Ranch Vineyard, which adds to the complexity in the wine.
A tiny micro winery, Union Sacré owned by Philip Muzzy and French winemaker Xavier Arnaudin, from the Rhône area, calls Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties their home, they have branched out from their original core of Alsatian style wines. As mentioned in my other reviews here, the Union Sacré wines, which they say are made for the tables of friends, made by these two friends, from different continents, Xavier and Philip, who arrived at the Central Coast from opposite ends of the Earth, as they note, Xavier is a WSET certified, oenology degree holder from France, Philip is a self-taught designer from Michigan who kind of misses living in a van. Between the two of them, Xavier and Philip have 35+ years experience working in Central Coast wineries, and Xavier has made wine with some of the Central Coast’s most notable wineries, including Sans Liege, Arcadian and Herman Story, adding to the pedigree here at Union Sacré. Again as noted, Union Sacré is noted for their focus on elegant, single vineyard, single Alsatian noble varietal wines, this include dry styled Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Sylvaner and Pinot Noir. They also explore seriously other grapes from the Central Coast like Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, plus some fun extras such as the mentioned Sangiovese, a couple of white Alsatian blends, a skin contact white, plus a Rosé. I recommend exploring the collection at Union Sacré, especially the whites and each of the Rieslings in particular.
($24 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive