Hello friends. This is a pleasant surprise.
In previous vintages, my allocations of these wines have been six bottles each. Sending out an offering with six bottles each would have led, I believe, to pitchfork-and-torches territory, so I quietly put those bottles on the warehouse shelves and sold them to lucky list members whose pickup timing was impeccable.
This year, the spirits of wine allocations have shone more brightly across our collective face. But not for long.
There is a parcel (larger than six bottles each, but by no means large), and it is being held for us, but that hold evaporates at the end of the day Monday, so please try to get order requests in by then.
These are Brennon Leighton’s wines for Efeste usually reserved for restaurants only: one single-vineyard Chardonnay, and two Syrahs modeled, it would seem, on the Bob Betz paradigm: one from Red Mountain, and one from Boushey Vineyard (on that note, I still have a few bottles of Betz Syrahs kicking around the warehouse and will include order links at the bottom of this offering).
They have all three been acclaim monsters. I believe the previous vintage of Lola received 96pts from Paul Gregutt (Wine Enthusiast), and I believe Ceidleigh received 93pts from Harvey Steiman (Wine Spectator) and Jolie Bouche 95pts, but I could have those two mixed up. Regardless, these wines have a demonstrated track record of consistent success:
2010 Efeste Chardonnay “Lola” (Evergreen Vineyard)
Entirely from Evergreen Vineyard, fast becoming the go-to site for the finest white wines produced in Washington, this took a full seven months to complete fermentation, using all indigenous yeasts. Brennon uses lees contact, as opposed to loads of new oak, for a sense of fullness to the mouthfeel, and the whole package is thoroughly successful. Intense and energetic, there is a wild mountain character to the cool-climate fruit here. This is a singular Washington Chardonnay.
2009 Efeste Syrah “Ceidleigh” (Red Mountain)
From the troika of classic Red Mountain Vineyards (Ciel du Cheval, Klipsun, Kiona), this sees very little new wood (about 20%), and is fermented entirely with indigenous yeasts.
While I haven’t tasted the 2009 vintage (circumstances dictate a rapid turnaround here), I’d expect, based on previous vintages, to see a ripe, luscious mouthful of red and black fruits, overlain with a healthy chunk of Red Mountain minerals and other subtleties (leafy, floral). This is likely to be the more tightly-wound of the two, and tends to age in fascinating directions.
2009 Efeste Syrah “Jolie Bouche” Boushey Vineyard
From a site always in the conversation of the finest Syrah vineyards in Washington, this is 100% Dick Boushey-farmed fruit. It sees even less new oak than Ceidleigh (just 15% here), and is also done entirely with feral yeasts. Expect a wine with noteworthy savory notes (Steiman’s 2008 review included “tomato leaf” and “roasted beet” among the flavor descriptors), potentially venturing into the vaunted Boushey funk.
Please limit order requests to 3 bottles Lola, 4 bottles Ceidleigh, and 3 bottles Bouche, and we’ll do our best to fulfill all requests. Again, please submit requests no later than Monday evening. The wine should arrive this week, at which point it will be available for pickup or shipping during the spring shipping window.
