2019 Kunin Natural Chenin Blanc Jurassic Park Santa Ynez Valley Santa Barbara County

WA92 The 2019 Jurassic Park Natural Chenin Blanc is made without yeasts, sulfur, fining or filtration. “The skins are highly oxidative,” says Magan Eng. “You think about minimal sulfur and how a wine can get tired. This wine without sulfur is actually stronger and longer lived. It’s very intentional.” It has a lovely perfume of dried chamomile, Golden Delicious apples, beeswax and hay. The palate is medium-bodied, rounded and wonderfully perfumed, with seamless freshness and a long, layered finish. Yum!
Estate Notes: This wine comes from some of the oldest vines in Santa Ynez; planted in the early ‘80s for the Firestone family. Given the moniker “Jurassic Park” by a young (at the time) Adam Firestone, the vineyard is, in fact, rich in both fossils and fossil fuels – and so was very probably a playground for some actual dinosaurs. Oil is still pumped out of its depths today (along with some excellent Chenin Blanc).

A natural wine from Santa Ynez’s famous Jurassic Park vineyard; skin-contact fermentation, unfiltered, unfined, no sulfur. This often results in oxidative, sherry-like wines that age well, in fact are probably better with some bottle age and appeal to lovers of natural expression of the vineyard (without any corrective measures to maintain the ‘cleanness’ of the fruit). They tend to be perfectly paired with seafood, salads and make a great aperitif wine.