Bale­na is a del­i­cate, aro­mat­ic blend of Viog­nier, Pinot Gri­gio, Falanghi­na and Grenache Blanc. Bale­na is Ital­ian for whale, and this blend is a nod to our organ­i­cal­ly cer­ti­fied Whale Rock Vine­yard, in which much of the grapes are grown. Our Whale Rock Vine­yard is named for this exact rea­son, it is stud­ded with ancient whale fos­sils that date back mil­lions of years. The 2021 Bale­na is pleas­ant­ly aro­mat­ic, crisp, and refresh­ing. The Oak­en­shield wines are a spe­cial bot­tling by Niels and Bim­mer pro­duced to cel­e­brate the spir­it of the good life and to hon­or friends and fam­i­ly both past and present.

This blend rep­re­sents a true cross sec­tion of the Paso Rob­les AVA and our estate vine­yards. By design, all grapes uti­lized were har­vest­ed at the low­er end of ripeness to
cap­ture acid­i­ty, fresh­ness, and to avoid the detrac­tion of high­er alco­hol con­tent. Cool fer­men­ta­tions in stain­less steel accen­tu­ates aro­ma inten­si­ty of these vari­eties. The goal of this wine is to make a blend fea­tur­ing flo­ral and fruit char­ac­ters up front, while main­tain­ing body, acid bal­ance, and a fla­vor­ful finish.