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2020 Fingers Crossed (Faethm) "Head Held High" California White Blend

2020 Fingers Crossed (Faethm) "Head Held High" California White Blend

97JD
97RP
97TWI
92-94VN

97

Jeb Dunnuck

Review Date: 08/2023

Tasted out of bottle and mostly from Bien Nacido (the 2021 is mostly Sanford & Benedict), the 2020 Held Head High White checks in as 80% Chardonnay, 12% Roussanne, and 8% Marsanne. It has a beautiful salty, mineral-driven style as well as ample stone fruits, medium to full body, a focused, chiseled, yet concentrated mouthfeel, and awesome length on the finish. It's a singular, layered, remarkably complete white...

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Price: $179.99

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Professional Reviews

97

Wine Advocate

Review Date: 08/2023
The Chardonnay-based Head Held High cuvée comes mostly from the Bien Nacido Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley, with the balance from the Sanford & Benedict Vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills. It's a wine that feels predestined, having withstood the challenges of heat and wildfire smoke but also because this blend represents the last of the old-vine Chardonnay planted at Bien Nacido, as the vines were torn out after this vintage. "This is the last Chardonnay ever made from W block," proprietors Nikolas and Julia Krankl explain, sounding both grateful and rueful. "We got to work with it once." Luckily, the Krankls will continue to work with the new Chardonnay vines that will be planted at Bien Nacido. Their section will comprise six rows, planted to six different clonal selections. (EB)

97

The Wine Independent

Review Date: 08/2023
I continue to love, love, love this 2020 Head Held High White Wine. It’s a blend of 80% Chardonnay, 12% Roussanne, and 8% Marsanne from Bien Nacido and Sanford & Benedict Vineyards. The wine went through 100% malo-lactic, and it spent 21 months in French oak barrels, 91% new. One year after bottling, it’s a little closed to start off, slowly unfurling to offer notes of yellow apples, yuzu, orange blossoms, and chalk dust, with hints of almond croissant and fresh hay. The full-bodied palate has bags of savory laced apple and citrus layers with an alluring creaminess to the texture and seamless freshness, finishing long and chalky. (LPB)

92-

94

Vinous

Review Date: 08/2022
The 2020 White Wine Held Head High marries richness with a good bit of energy. Still in tank, the White Wine shows a touch of reduction typical of wines at this stage. Lemon confit, mint, white flowers and earthy bits grace this layered, vibrant white wine from Fingers Crossed. (AG)

Notes

Lisa Perrotti-Brown writes: "One of my most exciting new discoveries thus far this year comes, a little unsurprisingly, from a new venture by one of the sons of Manfred and Elaine Krankl (of Sine Qua Non) called Faethm. Nikolas Krankl and his wife Julia have recently started making their own label. The first thing Nikolas and Julia did when I arrived at their home / winery a few minutes down the road from Sine Qua Non was show me the view from their back garden. Their place is perched on a hill overlooking Sine Qua Non and Cumulus Vineyard. Faethm is as new as winery projects come, their first vintage being 2017. They describe their style as, “unabashedly Californian; sun-kissed wines that are decadent, perfumed, opulent and regal.” Working with Rhone varietals and sourcing from the vineyards of Sine Qua Non, amongst others, it is clear the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree...and there are worse trees to fall from! Similar to Sine Qua Non, readers can expect an artistic element to the packaging and concepts behind the annual blends."

Product Details

Origin: Santa Maria/Santa Barbara, California, United States

Type/Varietal: Other White Wines

SKU: #1662342