Massican 'Annia' White Blend, Napa Valley, California 2022

• Winemaker: Dan Petroski
• Farming: Organic practicing
• Varieties: Tocai Friulano 51%, Ribolla Gialla 33%, Chardonnay 16%
  
• Terroir: small vineyards around the Napa Valley
  
• Vinification: harvested separately and fermented independently in French Oak and stainless steel tanks until blending six weeks before bottling.
• Aging: Steel
  
• Tasting Notes: Apple and citrus blossoms, wet stone and beeswax, lemons, peaches and sea foam

From our June 2022 Bottle Club Notes

• Massican | Annia White Blend  | Napa Valley, California | 2021

      Oh, Dan Petroski, you fascinating man. Dan Petroski is known as one of the top winemakers in California, and the most interesting. He is famous for Massican Wines, and the pale blue label (a color which he created and owns) will certainly garner attention from anyone in the know. In addition to creating always-sold-out, nearly cult-level Massican wines, he writes and edits his own magazine, created emojis,  and is a pioneer in the wine NFT game and creating virtual vineyards in the Metaverse. One could wonder how a winemaker, who had until recently been pulling double duty at the historic Larkmead Vineyards for 15 years, finds time to do it all. 

      To be honest, he just loves it. And when you love what you do, you’re motivated to explore the limits to which you can operate. But let’s get back to the wines.

      Inspired by the fruit-and-mineral-driven wines of Friuli, Italy, Dan is only working with white grapes in Napa Valley and Sonoma. As the San Francisco Chronicle wrote when he was named Winemaker of the Year, “How to describe Dan Petroski’s Massican wines? They’re from California, but somehow don’t taste like it.”  This is both true and untrue. He found small patches of old vineyards all over northern California planted to Italian varieties like Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, Greco, and Pinot Blanc, which gives insight into the history of Italian immigration throughout the state. The winery itself is named for Monte Massico, the mountain range foothills north of Naples where his grandfather grew up. His mother’s name Annia graces the label. But even with all of the Italian influence, this wine is pure California sunshine and innovation; it's just a side of wine country we haven’t seen until Dan Petroski made Massican.

      This past April, we hosted a series of wine dinners with Dan and Massican at the fine-dining popup Anomaly. We went through six vintages of this wine out of magnum bottles, and I was blown away by how well they could age and how well they paired with everything from sunchoke soup to braised duck wrapped in cabbage. Massican’s Annia is vibrant, fresh, salty, and piquant in its youth but evolves into stone fruit and quince with age (just a few years– let’s not hold this for a decade). Enjoy this wine, or hold on to it for a special meal. It is, of course, sold out everywhere (but we might have a few more bottles for you at DECANTsf).  — Cara Patricia