2025 Snowden Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley, California, USA

ABOUT THIS WINE

Snowden’s Sauvignon Blanc comes from Sunninghill, a single-acre estate block at about 800 feet of elevation on the eastern end of the ranch, where the hillside drops toward Lake Hennessey. The site has some of the estate’s shallowest, sandiest soils, and Snowden describes the wine in a classic style that balances pure Sauvignon Blanc fruit with the mineral character of wet stone. The vineyard is part of Snowden’s 23-acre certified-organic Napa Valley estate. The family’s established approach to Sunninghill favors freshness and site expression rather than an overtly manipulated style, making this a focused, mineral-driven expression of Sauvignon Blanc from the eastern hills of Napa Valley.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Snowden Vineyards is a family-run estate on the eastern slope of Napa Valley between St. Helena and Rutherford. Wine grapes have grown on the 160-acre property since Levi and Lucretia Davis homesteaded it in 1878, and the Snowden family has farmed the ranch since 1955. Today only 23 acres are planted to vines, while roughly 137 acres remain natural woodland. The estate vineyards are certified organic, reflecting the family’s focus on soil and ecosystem health. Third-generation family member Diana Snowden Seysses has been the winemaker since the 2005 harvest. A UC Davis Viticulture and Enology graduate, she has worked in both California and France and has served as an oenologist at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy since 2003. At Snowden, her approach is deliberately restrained: careful farming, native-yeast fermentations, moderate ripeness, and minimal manipulation are used to keep the character of the hillside vineyards and each vintage at the center of the wines.