La Marea "Cachudo" White Blend, 2023, 750ml

Description

Inspired by their Portuguese heritage, the Pierce family wanted to explore beyond the typical French cultivars on their small family vineyard in the high Lockwood Valley west of King City. Closer to Paso Robles than to the Monterey Bay and in the lee of the Santa Lucia Mountains, the area's high mid day temperatures, intense sunshine and arid climate suit grapes like Arinto, sometimes called Arinto Cachudo, which forms the backbone of the La Marea 'Cachudo' bottling. Directly translated 'cachudo' means 'having horns' but, depending on usage and region can mean chubby, rich, long-faced, lazy, or horny. 'El Cachudo' is the devil and while this wine is devilishly tasty we believe in this case it refers to the tight, almost chubby, bunches of grapes typical of the variety. Arinto vines withstand water and heat stress and produce high acid, citrus tinged and ageable white wines in warm climates. This is one of a couple of Arinto plantings we are aware of on the west coast but it is a potentially noble grape perfectly adapted to climate conditions found in all but the extreme coastal areas of California.