Bedrock Summer/Fall Release - 8/4/15

Chris just sent out that the release will occur on August 4th. Time to ask Morgan or Chris for a final list of wines and the release notes.

Sipping a 2013 Old Vine Zin as I type this.

Go deep.

That is always the case.

Go long, then buttonhook left.

Contemplating blanking WS to go extra DEEP on bedrock…

My favorite release! Love what Morgan and Chris are doing!

I am woefully behind on writing the release as we have been hit with a symptom of growing grapes in a drought year called “harvest” this week. Chris is on the road in Kentucky as well (getting fitted for fine white linen suits and grumbling over having to settle for Weller’s Wheated rather than Pappy Reserve I am sure) so we are scrambling a bit more than usual. Once I get the bad-boy written I will post it.

What I can tell you is the list of wines is below. We are pretty stoked on the release. I hope most of the wines will advance positively with the passing of time but there are a few wines that will offer some lip-smackingly good short-term gratification. And, because we are finally in the position to be able to hold some wines back we will be offering one of my favorite wines we have ever made in the 2012 Cuvee Karatas which is based around the oldest Semillon in the New World planted at Monte Rosso Vineyard. The 2013 Montecillo Cab is our first release from a dry-farmed mountain vineyard (2200’) planted in the 1960’s whose fruit was the backbone of the Kenwood Artist Series for decades. Also, the 2014 Old Vine Zinfandel might be my favorite iteration of the bottling to date for reasons I will outline in the release letter when I finally get to write it. All in all, another release where I look at the list and feel pretty humbled by the amazing vineyards we get to work with.

2014 Compagni Portis
2012 Cuvee Karatas
2014 Old Vine Zin
2014 Pagani Ranch
2014 Evangelho Heritage
2013 Lorenzo’s Heritage
2013 Weill a Way
2013 Griffin’s Lair
2013 Montecillo Cabernet
2013 Carlisle Zinfandel
2014 Alta Vista Gewurtz, Wish-List only

[swoon.gif]

Is this dry? Let me just get on the wish-list now.

Looks exciting, Morgan - thanks for posting!

Lots of fun unique wines to try! flirtysmile

It is dry. Because it is a mountain vineyard the malic levels are higher too, which means it actually has some acid.

Awesome line up. Take my money!

Thanks Morgan. Cheers to a smooth harvest.

Wow. Just wow. Easily going to be my favorite release yet…and that’s saying something.

Doing the quick math based on the number of bottles I’ll want to order, historical prices, and a rough estimate on the Montecillo Cab…and I’m in serious trouble here.

Hopefully I won’t be starting a new thread in the near future titled “I got the divorce papers today”

I notice that it lists Carlisle Zinfandel. Hmm. In a vineyard with so many Mixed Blacks, how much will appear in the bottle?

Here’s Morgan’s notes on the 2013 from last year’s release.

2013 Carlisle Vineyard Zinfandel, Russian River Valley, planted 1934. If you are excited about seeing this vineyard on a Bedrock label you can only imagine my sheer joy. I count Mike and Kendall Officer as some of my closest friends and the wines from Carlisle occupy a large portion of my own cellar. Beyond this, Mike and I have spent many hours in vineyards together and he is one of the best ampelographers (the science of vine variety identification) I have ever met. So, when he called during harvest last year and said that he had a few extra tons that he simply did not have space for, I was thrilled to take them. Carlisle Vineyard is perhaps the most diverse vineyard I have seen (almost 40 varieties) and this wine comes from a section that is particularly heavy with Petite Sirah. It is one of many favorites from the vintage—opulent, dark, spicy and reflecting its proud Russian River Valley heritage. The only downside is that this could be the only vintage we make the wine (unless my Faustian bargain with Mephistopheles comes to fruition and Mike gets a little extra crop every year!).

That last line begs the question if Morgan also sold Mike some Bedrock fruit again this year.

Unless it’s a typo, it is the same 2013 Carlisle as the release from a year ago.

Sorry guys, it is 2014 Carlisle, so my agreement with the devil is working out so far. And of course I sold fruit to Mike!

Also, Carlisle has an incredible diversity of varieties mixed in but it is actually pretty heavily dominated by Zinfandel- it is not like Nervo, Oakville Farmhouse, Bedrock, Pagani, etc. that are usually less than 50% Zinfandel as planted.

seriously Morgan. I was hoping to give my credit card a break this time around, then you had to put out an offering like this. I’m screwed now.

Speaking of Oakville Farmhouse, will that be on the Winter release this year? Somehow I made the mistake of passing up on that bottling last year and don’t want to do the same again.