Soliloquy is one of Flora Springs’ two flagship wines; the other, Trilogy, is a red blend. You would expect a Napa Valley winery to have a flagship red wine, but maybe not a flagship white wine. The folks at Flora Springs, however, are particularly proud of Soliloquy, also the name of the Sauvignon Blanc clone that is the basis for the white blend. Soliloquy is an important part of Flora Springs’ history. Today we are tasting the newest release of Flora Springs Soliloquy, which we received as a tasting sample.
A distinctive expression of Sauvignon Blanc, named Soliloquy by the Komes and Garvey families, was first identified in a small block of their Crossroads Vineyard in 1989. UC Davis subsequently identified the Soliloquy clone as unique to Flora Springs. A vine disease struck the Oakville AVA vineyard in the 1990s and nearly caused the clone to become extinct. Over the next eight years the families started from scratch, growing new plant material in the laboratory, propagating a few dozen vines in a nursery and eventually replicating them in the vineyard.
Once the new vines were established and producing grapes, Nat Komes set about replicating the wines they made before disaster struck. Komes used various yeasts, fermentation methods and fermentation vessels over several years to replicate the flavors he remembered so well from the original Soliloquy.
2023 Flora Springs Soliloquy, Napa Valley — pale yellow with generous aromas of stone fruit, oat hay and dry grass with background notes of orange blossoms. Flavors include pineapple guava, citrus and dry grass with juicy acidity in a slightly round body. 631 cases made. 14.2% ABV. SRP $70
The 2023 Soliloquy is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Malvasia and Chardonnay. The wine spent 7 months in French oak. The aromas and flavors are quite layered and complex with refreshing acidity. The wine’s roundness makes it easy sipping on its own, but it will really shine with a meal. We tasted Flora Springs’ Trilogy back in April.
Wines may be purchased on the Flora Springs website, where you can also arrange a visit to the St. Helena tasting room.
Thanks to Creative Marketing Communications for organizing our tasting.
Cheers!
The wine sounds wonderful. Thanks for the education about this unique SB clone!
Cheers Martin!