Hello friends. If a patch of land could talk, what would it say?
Doug Roskelley’s attempt to answer that question is the foundation for today’s offering:
2008 Tero Estates “Windrow” (Windrow Vineyard BDX Field Blend)
The patch of land is Windrow Vineyard, which contains the oldest commercial Cabernet vines in the Walla Walla Valley. Doug and Jan Roskelley purchased the site (adjacent to Seven Hills) in 2007 and built their estate winery on the premises. While they have since opened a tasting room downtown (in the Marcus Whitman hotel, actually), I would urge you to make an appointment and visit the winery itself. Along with its intellectual charms (seeing those gnarled old vines is a treat), there are the aesthetics to think about, and it is one of the most beautiful patches of the Walla Walla Valley.
As I think about it, this bottling too combines the intellectual and the sensual. The intellectual exercise is this: pick grapes in the exact proportion that they appear in the vineyard. Pick them on the same day. Throw them into the fermenter together. Wait.
This is a rare recipe, for two main reasons. First, winemakers like to pick different varietals on different days, because they can ripen at different rates. Second, winemakers like to keep their varietals separate as they go through fermentation, then blend the juice when it’s more of a known quantity.
Doing as Doug does here is dangerous (I think I just created a Walla Walla Valley tounge-twister!), because what’s done is done. Everything goes into the fermenter at once, and what comes out is what comes out.
It is an intellectual exercise, and a good one: what does this patch of land have to say?
And if it ended there, we could all still get geeked up about it and wax poetic to each other about the merits of terroir expression. But it gets better still, because the answer to the question is something lovely. In many cases, winemakers have to choose between something interesting or something beautiful. Here Doug has his cake and eats it too.
Noteworthy right away are the soaring, floral aromatics: lilac, lavender, and sappy fruit. On the bright palate, this is more mineral/floral than overtly fruity. The fruit that is there has a brambly raspberry character, and it quickly transitions into the ripe, gorgeous tannins, which carry suggestions of chamomile tea. Left brain and right brain, intellect and senses: all are satisfied.
Review of Washington Wines (Rand Sealey): “($45); [REVIEW TEXT WITHHELD]. 19+/20 pts.”
Please limit order requests to 4 bottles, and we’ll do our best to fulfill all requests. This wine should arrive in a few weeks, at which point it will be available for pickup or shipping during the spring shipping window.
2007 Tero Estates Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
I also received a few requests for this one, likely from subscribers to Rand Sealey’s newsletter, who noticed it as Rand’s first perfect score of 2012:
Review of Washington Wines (Rand Sealey): “($90); [REVIEW TEXT WITHHELD]. 20/20 points.”
Please note: while the winery did indeed sell this only in 3-bottle wooden-box sets, we can offer it today a single bottle at a time. If you do order 3 bottles, we will include the wooden box free of any additional charges.
The aromatics announce a complex wine ahead, with fig paste, strawberry, cedar, and peppermint. There is excellent density here, and a seamlessness to the flavors, which present a fine array of dark, earth/mineral tones. This transitions into a seriously lengthy finish, which leaves the taster with a lingering impression of black cherry-inflected black tea.
This is a wine worthy of the reserve label. From three barrels originally destined for the Estate Cabernet program that stood out to Doug as especially worthy (all three barrels were new Vicard), the wine spent three years in those barrels plus another year in bottle before release. Reserves will only be made in exceptional years, and there will be none in 2008, and 2009 is looking unlikely. Only 20 cases are currently being released, so we’re lucky to have access to this beauty.
Please limit order requests to 3 bottles, and we’ll do our best to fulfill all requests. This wine should arrive in a few weeks, at which point it will be available for pickup or shipping during the spring shipping window.
