Mendocino Day 3: Coast and Knez

On our last day in Mendocino county, after exploring Heritage House Resort, our coastline retreat, we had lunch in the charming, quaint town of Mendocino and walked the dramatic cliffs over the ocean. Heading back to San Francisco, we happily took 128 back through the redwoods and Anderson Valley, stopping at Knez Winery's tasting room along the way. I had tried a couple of these wines at the SF Vintners Market also, so it was fun to taste the broader lineup. With around 2000 cases produced, all the wines are unfiltered, unfined and go through native yeast fermentation. The fruit is all estate-grown and farmed biodynamically. They have a super interesting white blend of Tocai Fruilano, Malvasia, and Pinot Grigio, which are all dry-farmed grapes that are picked at the same time, co-fermented in neutral oak and aged on the lees. The wine had a floral nose with orange blossom, gardenia, and anise notes. I also enjoyed their 2011 Cerise Vineyard Pinor Noir, which is a steep slope vineyard with a lot of iron in the soil. This translated into an earthy, meaty salinity in the wine that I really liked. 33% of the wine saw new French oak and 50% was fermented in whole clusters. This Pinot, being the Martini clone, is characterized by smaller clusters and thicker skins than other Pinot (which as a grape is known for having a thin skin). Very interesting and complex. A nice cap to an enjoyable weekend of wine and waves in Mendocino county.

Knez combines nature's vines with the ocean's creatures in their unique labels.