Trinity Lakes AVA is – for now – something of an aspirational designation. Trinity and nearby Lewiston Lakes were both ‘constructed’ in the 1960s by dam projects managed by PG&E. The first vines were planted in 1981, but since this area is so far from everywhere, there are still only three wineries using the designation. Alpen Cellars, One Maple, and Iruai. 

Savagnin is Jura’s signature grape because it has personality oozing out its ears. No glass has yet been invented to contain this much lemon aroma, tooth-shattering acidity, sandstone-ground minerality. This is a lightly creamy Chardonnay crossed with mineral Chenin Blanc that went to Spain on a gap  year and now it wants to be Txakoli.