Winey Tasting Notes: Whip….It’s Good!

Let me start off by apologizing to Devo for the above title. But seriously, when you’ve got a wine called “The Whip” (2011, 12.5%, Livermore, CA), and you were a high school junior in 1980, how are you NOT going to start singing that song? And The Whip is good (Whip it GOOD!).  In fact, it’s great, but the song doesn’t tell you to “whip it great”, now does it?  

Whip It Good

I actually thought about putting this in the Naughty Wine Names category, and then I thought better of it. Somehow, if you place it there, it’s just not as fun and dancing around with funnel shaped hats on your head. (Plus, when you realize that its “sister” red blend is called “The Spur”, the whole thing goes California Wild West and just a bit kinky.) So I stayed New Wave.  

The Whip is a product of Murrieta’sWell, (named after the artesian well on the property), and is a mind boggling blend of six different wines: 39% Chardonnay, 26% Semillon, 13% Gewurztraminer, 9 % Orange Muscat, 7% Viognier and 6% Sauvignon Blanc. My brain actually got a little whiplash trying to take that all in. (The Winey Mom is NOT a math or numbers person.)

The first aroma that whips your nose (I couldn’t say “hit”, now, could I?) is of orange peel. Then a little whiff of mineral..I think the Sauvignon Blanc, all 6% of it, was making itself known here! And then you sip it!!! Wow!! The orange comes through the middle of your mouth, the Semillon bubbles it around the edges and then a bit of vanilla and honey come into play.  It finishes with some mellow oak (some of the Chardonnay was fermented in oak). It was both smooth and effervescent at the same time. That’s quite a trick.

This is a wine that you could pair with so many different dishes that it just begs to be served at your next party. If you have any really Winey Friends, I suggest you stick a bow on it and gift it at the next appropriate occasion. It’ll keep every white wine fan happy – not too sweet, not too dry…just whippingly wonderful.

Cheers!