Better Living Through Fungus

You ask us, fungus gets a bad rap. Sure, there are places you don’twant to find it, like between your toes or in your lungs or all overyour elm trees. But you wouldn’t want to find pretty much anythingliving between your toes, right? Why does fungus take all the blame?It’s easy to get creeped out by the idea of fungus. But without it,we’d have no bread, no beer, no soy sauce, no penicillin, no bluecheese. And don’t get us started on mushrooms.

So whenShadow Canyon Cellars noticed a persistent fungus problem in the PinotBlanc vines in one section of the Bien Nacido Vineyards, how did theyreact? After all, these were 33-year-old own-rooted vines supplied byUC-Davis, a source of budwood for Pinot Blanc vines all over the state,being manhandled by mean old fungus. Did the growers run shrieking likeso many other fungophobes would?

Don’t bet your spores onit. They actually intensified the conditions that helped producebotrytis, the fungus behind the classic late-harvest Sauternes dessertwines from France. A nightly sprinkler bath encouraged the developmentof botrytis, the “Noble Rot” that’s so bad for dry Pinot Blanc but sogood for the sweet stuff. Nature did the rest. Under the rightconditions, those fungi breed like microscopic, much-less-cute rabbits.

Theresult is the Shadow Canyon Cellars 2004 “Paeonia” Pinot Blanc. Whileonly the third Paeonia offering, it’s already taking its place as oneof the great California late harvest dessert wine, thanks to BienNacido Vineyards’ ideal terroir and the aforementioned botrytis.Super-ripe honey, apricot, and peach notes strike a balance of sugarand acidity that leave one’s mouth coated in a thick layer of ecstasy.

No,we don’t want to bump into fungus in certain intimate contexts. But inits proper place, fungus does more than its share to make our livesthat much more pleasurable. The Shadow Canyon Cellars 2004 “Paeonia”Pinot Blanc is just one more reason why.

2004 Shadow Canyon Late Harvest Pinot Blanc:

• Vintage: 2004
• Varietal: Pinot Blanc
• Vinyard Source: Bien Nacido Vineyard Santa Maria Valley
• Brix at Harvest: 44.25
• Residual Sugar: 27.4%
• Alcohol: 11%
• Production: 220 cases
• Release Date: July 2007

Rules and restrictions:

• Wine sold by winery (or a retailer in your state where necessary)
• You must be 21 or older to order
• Whoever receives the package must be 21 or older
• If you're drunk when the package shows up, you will not be allowed to receive it
• Wine cannot be delivered to a P.O. Box
• We highly recommend you use a business address as your shipping address

Thanks to stick-in-the-mud buzzkilling state legislators, wine may only be delivered to the following states:

• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• District Of Columbia
• Florida
• Georgia
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oregon
• South Carolina
• Texas
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

If your state's not on the list, you're out of luck... for now. Keep up with the ever-changing laws over at ShipCompliantBlog.com, and/or sound the alarms with your state assembly person through FreeTheGrapes.org. Meanwhile, all Federal, state and local laws are complied with in providing this wine.