Adobe Road 2024 Sauvignon Blanc Sangiacomo Amaral Vineyard Carneros 750ml

Before the Sangiacomo family bought it in 1997, the Amaral Vineyard was named for the Portuguese family who farmed it for pasture and hay — land in the southwestern foothills of Sonoma Valley that the Amaral family eventually sold to a partnership who planted it to vineyards in 1984. The Sangiacomos saw what that partnership had started and bought it. They then replanted the entire vineyard in 2003 with fifteen different clone and rootstock combinations — a meticulously considered agricultural investment that reflects nearly a century of accumulated knowledge about what Sonoma County soils produce and why specific clonal combinations matter in specific sites. Today Amaral supplies fruit to over a dozen wineries across California, and the Sangiacomo family's own winery produces an Amaral Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc that they describe, in their most recent release, as "vibrant."

Adobe Road has maintained its long, trusted partnership with the Sangiacomo family across multiple vineyard designates — Roberts Road for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the Petaluma Gap, and Amaral for this Carneros Sauvignon Blanc, which sits in a distinctly different and specifically cooler growing environment. Carneros straddles the boundary between Sonoma and Napa counties at the northern edge of San Pablo Bay — a position that makes it one of the coldest wine-growing regions in all of California, the bay's persistent morning fog and afternoon wind pushing ripening temperatures down to levels where Sauvignon Blanc retains the freshness and precision that warmer sites inevitably sacrifice. The restricted soils and low yields at Amaral concentrate the flavor and mineral character of that cool-climate fruit into something considerably more serious than a broadly-sourced California Sauvignon Blanc.

Wine Spectator has reviewed the 2024 vintage. The Carneros AVA, the Sangiacomo family's century of Sonoma farming, the 15-clone replanting precision, and the low-yield restricted soils combine to produce a Sauvignon Blanc of real specificity and genuine terroir expression — the kind of single-vineyard white wine that rewards the buyer who looks past the label and asks where, exactly, this fruit came from.

Origins & Craftsmanship

Adobe Road Winery was founded in 2002 by Kevin and Debra Buckler in Petaluma, Sonoma County, built around the philosophy of sourcing exclusively from the finest individual vineyard sites across California. Winemaker Garrett Martin works closely with Kevin Buckler to select and craft each vineyard-designate release, studying the fruit of each site and meticulously monitoring the fermentation process to produce what Buckler describes as "wines that capture the essence of the vineyard."

The Sangiacomo family has farmed Sonoma County since 1927 — third-generation farming across multiple vineyard properties spanning Carneros, Petaluma Gap, Sonoma Coast, and Napa Valley. The Amaral Vineyard is one of their Carneros holdings, situated in the southwestern foothills of Sonoma Valley where San Pablo Bay's marine influence dominates the growing environment. Originally farmed for pasture and hay by the Portuguese Amaral family, the property was planted to vineyards in 1984 and acquired by the Sangiacomos in 1997. The entire vineyard was replanted in 2003 with fifteen distinct clone and rootstock combinations across 110 acres — a scale of clonal diversity reflecting the family's sophisticated understanding of how different genetic material expresses itself on specific rootstocks in specific Carneros soils. Yields are deliberately kept low, and the soils are described as restricted — qualities that produce fruit of genuine concentration and intensity despite the cool maritime growing environment.

The 2024 growing season across Sonoma County followed a warm, relatively dry summer after the precedent of 2023's exceptionally wet and cold conditions, allowing for more even and consistent ripening across the Carneros AVA's cool maritime sites.

Critics Reviews

Wine Spectator 90 Points

Carneros AVA / Sangiacomo Amaral Vineyard program characterization (confirmed):
The Sangiacomo family's own 2025 Amaral Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc is described as "vibrant" — the house characterization of the site's Sauvignon Blanc house style.

Tasting Profile

The following profile reflects the confirmed Carneros Sauvignon Blanc house style from the Sangiacomo Amaral Vineyard, consistent with the cool-maritime character of the site.

Nose
Pale straw with green highlights — the cool Carneros maritime influence and restricted Amaral soils producing a color of genuine freshness. Grapefruit leads with vivid, zesty citrus brightness — the most classically Carneros Sauvignon Blanc aromatic quality from a site cooled by San Pablo Bay fog and afternoon wind. Lemon adds additional citrus brightness. White peach and subtle stone fruit add a warm secondary note that distinguishes Carneros from the more purely herbal Loire Valley style. Green herb — cut grass, lemon verbena — adds the Sauvignon Blanc's most characteristic and most recognizable secondary aromatic. Saline mineral character from the restricted Carneros soils adds the most specifically terroir-communicating background quality.

Palate
Crisp and focused, with the natural acidity that San Pablo Bay's cooling maritime influence preserves in Carneros Sauvignon Blanc more effectively than warmer California growing regions. The citrus and stone fruit character carry through from nose to palate with genuine freshness. Herbal and mineral secondary qualities add the most specifically site-communicating palate complexity. The restricted soils and low yields at Amaral are most directly apparent in the wine's flavor concentration — a density that broadly-sourced California Sauvignon Blanc rarely achieves.

Finish
Clean, mineral, and refreshing — the Carneros maritime terroir's most enduringly direct contribution in a finish of real precision and saline-mineral persistence. Food-inviting and genuinely versatile.

Quick Overview

Food Pairings

• Oysters and raw shellfish — the saline mineral finish finding its most natural culinary mirror
• Grilled fish and light seafood
• Goat cheese and fresh cheeses
• Summer salads with citrus vinaigrette
• Light pasta with herbs and olive oil