2022 Massican Vino Bianco California 750 ml

The “cult” category of Napa Valley might be dominated by red wines, but the label perhaps making the most waves is Massican.

Massican is the only white-wine-only winery in Napa Valley, and it is a phenomenon. Led by the SF Chronicle’s 2017 Winemaker of the Year Dan Petroski, it has redefined the category with its crisp and characterful Mediterranean-inspired bottlings, which have been poured by the glass at The French Laundry, featured at MICHELIN-starred restaurants all over the country, and packed away by the case by locals—including some of Napa Valley’s most formidable winemakers.

The 2022 Massican Vino Bianco first caught our attention when we tasted through the 2022s with Dan, and the shimmering, lively, mineral-rich wine dazzled our palate. Dan calls it “a classic white wine that captures everything you adored about the Italian table wine you drank during your last Mediterranean vacation.” What could be better?

Dan gained acclaim in Napa for his skills as a blender of wines—first for Larkmead and then with Massican’s innovative whites—and the Vino Bianco highlights his prodigious talent. It’s 55% Pinot Bianco, aka Pinot Blanc, which brings orchard fruit, lime custard, and beautiful white flowers to the party. That’s blended with 45% Cortese, the grape of Italy’s famed Gavi di Gavi, showing off the distinct zippy green apple and almond skin that’s made it so beloved in its homeland.

The result is a bottle that’s more than the sum of its parts—though its parts were pretty clearly remarkable—and a wine that shines at the dinner table. Pair it with anything cooked from the sea—grilled fish, steamed crabs, sauteed shrimp, you name it—and you’ll be in white-wine heaven.