The Still & The VineSchool of Wine & Spirits
Conundrum White Blend 2023
White WineIssue 16

Conundrum White Blend 2023

Wagner Family of Wine (Caymus Vineyards)

$25California — Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Muscat Canelli, Sémillon.
Conundrum was decades ahead of its time. Chuck Wagner of Caymus created it in 1989, asking what if you gave each grape its best role.

Kit Aromas

Tasting Notes

Nose

Tropical pineapple, honeydew melon, orange blossom, jasmine, green apple

Palate

Off-dry and lush with ripe stone fruit, citrus zest, pear, honeyed sweetness

Finish

Medium with lingering tropical fruit, floral lift, and clean bright close

Serve & Pair

Cocktail Suggestion

Cocktail — The Conundrum Spritz: 3 oz Conundrum · 2 oz elderflower liqueur · 2 oz sparkling water · mint sprig.

Food Pairing

Thai green curry with jasmine rice

Train These Aromas
Comments

Be the first to comment.

Leave a comment

0 / 4,000

First-time comments are reviewed before appearing. Be kind, be specific, no spam.

More White Wine Reviews
Terras Gauda Abadia de San Campio Albarino
White Wine

Terras Gauda Abadia de San Campio Albarino

Terras Gauda

Abadia de San Campio is a benchmark Albariño that demonstrates how Atlantic terroir marks its wines with an unmistakable saline signature—an impression as indelible as any char on oak. Precise, refreshing, and beautifully textured, it offers serious mineral complexity at a modest price and pairs effortlessly with the coastal cuisine it was born alongside.

$19
Dry Creek Chenin Blanc
White Wine

Dry Creek Chenin Blanc

Dry Creek Vineyard

Dry Creek Vineyard has championed Chenin Blanc in California for decades, and this bottling is a quiet testament to why the grape deserves more attention. It delivers warmth and generosity without excess—an approachable, food-friendly white that offers far more complexity than its modest price suggests. A wine that communicates comfort before you even find the words.

$14
Chablis, Louis Michel
White Wine

Chablis, Louis Michel

Louis Michel & Fils

Louis Michel & Fils is one of Chablis' great purists, eschewing oak entirely in favor of stainless steel to let the limestone terroir shine with absolute transparency. This is clarity through constraint made liquid—proof that restraint in winemaking yields the most eloquent expression of place. A benchmark village Chablis that punches well above its price.

$29
Famille Hugel Gewürztraminer Alsace 2022
White Wine

Famille Hugel Gewürztraminer Alsace 2022

Famille Hugel

Hugel's estate-level Gewürztraminer is an ideal entry into the grape — aromatic and expressive without tipping into heaviness. The 2022 vintage shows purity of fruit and the benefit of Alsace's continental climate, where warm days and cool nights preserve acidity in a variety that can lose it. This is the bottle to pair with spiced cuisine or to enjoy on its own as an education in aromatics.

$22