White wines are typically just one varietal. The wines in this blend fit together like a puzzle, blended by taste to excite the senses. It’s great by itself and pairs well with spicy foods.
The 2021 White Rex is a vibrant and layered white blend that captures the best of its varietals. On the nose, delicate aromas of honeysuckle, peaches, and a hint of melon invite you in. On the palate, this wine strikes a beautiful balance between bright acidity and a smooth, rounded texture. The Chardonnay brings creamy apple and subtle oak, the Sauvignon Blanc lends zesty lime and grapefruit, and the Roussanne adds an exotic note of honeydew and peaches.
The finish is crisp yet lingering, with a touch of minerality and a whisper of spice, making it both refreshing and complex.
Pairing Suggestions: Excellent with seafood dishes like grilled scallops or oysters, creamy pastas, roast chicken, or a fresh summer salad with goat cheese and citrus vinaigrette.
PJ and Robert met at Berkeley in 1968. Robert, a backyard mechanic, kept PJ’s Italian sports cars running – takes an Italian to do that. As a thank you, PJ gave Robert, who was already interested in fine wine, a winemaking kit – seemed a good gift for a chemist grad. Robert made his first wine in his garage in Berkeley in 1972. He entered it in the California State Fair and took home the Best of Show Award. Robert found his passion and continued making wine in his garage, turned winery, for his family and friends.
Ten years later, PJ and Robert left their good jobs in the city to pursue their dream of owning a winery in the Sonoma Valley. In 1982, they bought the Deerfield Ranch in Glen Ellen, where they got married, and turned the horse barn into their first winery. The Rexes still live there today; however, in 2000, they bought 47 acres on Highway 12 in Kenwood to expand the winery operation. The Deerfield Ranch Winery is still family-owned and operated, producing about 20,000 cases a year.
Our wines are barrel aged in the 23,000 sq. ft. cave, also home to the tasting room open daily to the public. Winemaker Robert Rex was the pioneer of the cleanwine® movement and can often be seen at the winery. His philosophy is “Wine should be good and good for you.”
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
When I received notice that I would be a lab rat this week, I was delighted, as usual, and wondered if I’d be chasing the UPS truck, also per usual. But timing was on my side: I was just about to head out the door to a meeting when it arrived. I stashed the bottle in the frig. Its label promised a dry, slightly spicy drink that should accompany the roast chicken dressed in a yogurt-garlic-cilantro sauce that I had planned for dinner.
I enlisted my son and daughter-in-law, visiting from St. Louis, to join the tasting that evening. Deerfield White Rex is comprised of three grapes: sauvignon blanc (69%), roussanne (20%) and chardonnay (11%). Roussanne was new to us so we looked it up in Wine Folly: “a rare, intriguing, full-bodied” grape.
We all agreed on the wine’s appearance: clear, pale and lemony. That’s where unanimity ended. My son, admittedly only an occasional wine drinker, really enjoyed his glass, declaring it slightly spicy. We two women, regular wine drinkers, had a different reaction. First, we had trouble assessing the nose, ultimately declaring it was medium, and the aroma, which was more difficult to detect, perhaps musty apricot.
We then moved onto the palate: dry, with medium-high acidity, which was exactly what we wanted to accompany both a steamy evening and our meal. The body was medium, also fine. But the high tannin we detected did not work for us, nor did the lengthy finish, which was not pleasant. We couldn’t put our finger on its flavor characteristics; it didn’t fall into any of the usual categories.
Like other lab rats this summer, I cannot rule out that trucking the wine across the country during this hot period may have affected it. Or, given its 2021 vintage, perhaps it is past its prime. Sadly,
as we knew it should have been very enjoyable, it wasn’t. We put the remainder of the bottle in the frig.
BUT…that was Night #1. The next night we tried it again, this time accompanied by salmon baked in a tahini-sumac-garlic sauce. Perhaps aided by oxidation, it tasted much better that night—still dry and pleasantly acidic, but the musty aroma had dissipated, and the flavor, an intriguing mix of lemon and perhaps peach, worked well with the salmon. Our conclusion: at the right price, this wine is definitely worth quaffing.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2021 Deerfield White Rex White Blend - $25 = 13.88%
Good day fellow wine lovers. Happy to have another RAT opportunity. Up for review today is a Sonoma County white blend from Deerfield Ranch Winery. The 2021 “White Rex” is composed of predominantly Sauvignon Blanc 69%, Roussanne 20% and 11% Chardonnay. The natural cork came out easily and the wine was a very light colored white wine. My first impression was that of a delicate wine. The nose didn’t offer up much for me, may have been too cold or just tight from pop and pour.
The initial tasting gave me loads of tropical fruits, hard to nail down, but I was thinking guava, lychee, mango, as well as some fuji apple and maybe unripe peach. After the wine opened a bit, 20-30 minutes, I got a little grassiness as well as some white florals and citrus pith. The Chardonnay and Roussanne give the wine a little weight and keep it from being too sharp’ as some Sauv Blancs can be.
The wine paired well with Black Cod, seared and then basted in a lemon garlic beurre blanc with a side of haricot vertes, all done on the blackstone. I feel like this is a well made wine, I do enjoy this sort of white blend. I would guess this to retail in the $25-$30 range. I have no prior knowledge of this winery but I will be in for a case if the price is right. This seems to be a well made wine and would be great paired with food or just for casual enjoyment. Not a serious wine but definitely delicious.
Also FWIW. Vegan, Unfined, Gluten Free and Velcorin Free (whatever that is, we probably don’t need velcorin’s in our wine.) Also 12.7% abv and .4G residual sugar. The winery states it as “Off Dry” on the bottle. I guess maybe so but it came off as pretty dry white wine to me. So maybe just entering the threshold of Off Dry, but had that not been on the bottle, I would have described it as a dry, crisp white blend with a little body and weight while still maintaining brightness and acidity.
2021 Deerfield White Rex, Sonoma Valley
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$312.00/Case for 12x 2021 Deerfield White Rex, Sonoma Valley at Deerfield Ranch Winery
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Aug 4 - Tuesday, Aug 5
2021 Deerfield White Rex White Blend
6 bottles for $89.99 $15/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $154.99 $12.92/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
Interested on the rattage on this one.
When I received notice that I would be a lab rat this week, I was delighted, as usual, and wondered if I’d be chasing the UPS truck, also per usual. But timing was on my side: I was just about to head out the door to a meeting when it arrived. I stashed the bottle in the frig. Its label promised a dry, slightly spicy drink that should accompany the roast chicken dressed in a yogurt-garlic-cilantro sauce that I had planned for dinner.
I enlisted my son and daughter-in-law, visiting from St. Louis, to join the tasting that evening. Deerfield White Rex is comprised of three grapes: sauvignon blanc (69%), roussanne (20%) and chardonnay (11%). Roussanne was new to us so we looked it up in Wine Folly: “a rare, intriguing, full-bodied” grape.
We all agreed on the wine’s appearance: clear, pale and lemony. That’s where unanimity ended. My son, admittedly only an occasional wine drinker, really enjoyed his glass, declaring it slightly spicy. We two women, regular wine drinkers, had a different reaction. First, we had trouble assessing the nose, ultimately declaring it was medium, and the aroma, which was more difficult to detect, perhaps musty apricot.
We then moved onto the palate: dry, with medium-high acidity, which was exactly what we wanted to accompany both a steamy evening and our meal. The body was medium, also fine. But the high tannin we detected did not work for us, nor did the lengthy finish, which was not pleasant. We couldn’t put our finger on its flavor characteristics; it didn’t fall into any of the usual categories.
Like other lab rats this summer, I cannot rule out that trucking the wine across the country during this hot period may have affected it. Or, given its 2021 vintage, perhaps it is past its prime. Sadly,
as we knew it should have been very enjoyable, it wasn’t. We put the remainder of the bottle in the frig.
BUT…that was Night #1. The next night we tried it again, this time accompanied by salmon baked in a tahini-sumac-garlic sauce. Perhaps aided by oxidation, it tasted much better that night—still dry and pleasantly acidic, but the musty aroma had dissipated, and the flavor, an intriguing mix of lemon and perhaps peach, worked well with the salmon. Our conclusion: at the right price, this wine is definitely worth quaffing.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2021 Deerfield White Rex White Blend - $25 = 13.88%
Good day fellow wine lovers. Happy to have another RAT opportunity. Up for review today is a Sonoma County white blend from Deerfield Ranch Winery. The 2021 “White Rex” is composed of predominantly Sauvignon Blanc 69%, Roussanne 20% and 11% Chardonnay. The natural cork came out easily and the wine was a very light colored white wine. My first impression was that of a delicate wine. The nose didn’t offer up much for me, may have been too cold or just tight from pop and pour.
The initial tasting gave me loads of tropical fruits, hard to nail down, but I was thinking guava, lychee, mango, as well as some fuji apple and maybe unripe peach. After the wine opened a bit, 20-30 minutes, I got a little grassiness as well as some white florals and citrus pith. The Chardonnay and Roussanne give the wine a little weight and keep it from being too sharp’ as some Sauv Blancs can be.
The wine paired well with Black Cod, seared and then basted in a lemon garlic beurre blanc with a side of haricot vertes, all done on the blackstone. I feel like this is a well made wine, I do enjoy this sort of white blend. I would guess this to retail in the $25-$30 range. I have no prior knowledge of this winery but I will be in for a case if the price is right. This seems to be a well made wine and would be great paired with food or just for casual enjoyment. Not a serious wine but definitely delicious.
Also FWIW. Vegan, Unfined, Gluten Free and Velcorin Free (whatever that is, we probably don’t need velcorin’s in our wine.) Also 12.7% abv and .4G residual sugar. The winery states it as “Off Dry” on the bottle. I guess maybe so but it came off as pretty dry white wine to me. So maybe just entering the threshold of Off Dry, but had that not been on the bottle, I would have described it as a dry, crisp white blend with a little body and weight while still maintaining brightness and acidity.