INSIDER'S PICK: 2017 SKINNER VINEYARDS 'SMITHEREENS' WHITE BLEND EL DORADO COUNTY $19.99

If this label looks familiar, we featured the Smithereens Red Blend about 2 months ago. Having just brought in the equally tasty white wine counterpart, we felt it deserves equal billing. To recap from before, El Dorado County is the heart of the California Gold Rush, one of the major historical influences to westward expansion and European immigration in the mid-1800s. The Skinner family established one of the first wineries and distilleries in 1861 and ran a fairly large operation for many years, but faded into an obscure fragment of history until 2006 when a branch of the family picked up the rights to the name and 'rediscovered' the vineyards. Their vineyards focus on Rhone varieties, capitalizing on the dramatic elevation changes along the Sierra Foothills to grow grapes in a variety of conditions to develop great complexity and subtlety in their many blends.

The winery's Smithereens series pays tribute to the miners of the Gold Rush using dynamite to blast out gold deposits (not the 80s band of the same name), and is built to be their more basic Cotes du Rhone style wines. This blend focuses on the four most noteworthy white varieties in the Rhone, featuring Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier and Grenache Blanc in varying ratios based on the vintage. As with the best wines from the Rhone, the blend shows harmony between the four varieties without any one taking an overly prominent position. A touch of the tropical perfume from the Viognier is checked down by the mineral and zesty citrus flower notes of the Roussanne, and the round texture of those varieties are given freshness by the acidity and citrus skin character of the Marsanne and Grenache Blanc. Those that do not like a buttery wine but still want a white wine with some body and complexity should run to try this, a great pairing with more intense seafood and rich pork dishes.

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