Maggie Harrison and Roussanne

Always love seeing articles talking about one of my favorite grapes - Roussanne. And Maggie does appear to be doing some interesting stuff with this variety, grapes from which come from the Stolpman Vineyard in the Ballard Canyon AVA here in Santa Barbara County.

That said, to NOT mention folks like Bob Lindquist at Qupe, Randall Grahm at Bonny Doon, the folks at Stolpman Vineyards, Eric Mohseni at Zaca Mesa, John Alban at Alban Vineyards, Steve Edmunds at Edmunds St. John, Bill Easton at Domaine de la Terre Rouge, and Wells Guthrie at Copain seems a bit wanting.

All of these folks have been working with this ‘unsung hero’ grape for quite some time, and doing so fabulously I might add. And continue to do so dutifully - and beautifully . . .

Cheers!

I’m on the mailing list for Antica Terra. Love the pinots! Haven’t branched out yet to her other offerings.

Maggie is a great winemaker and even a better person.

Larry,
Since the focus of the article is Maggie, herself, and not Roussanne, in general, I don’t regard them as particularly
an oversight or anything. But, you’re right, those folks do very good things w/ Roussanne as well.
I still have a bunch of those little plastic top hats Randal used on his first Roussannes (which was not Roussanne, but Viognier).
I’m hoping they’ll become collector’s items & I’ll become rich!!
Tom

Tom,

You are absolutely correct, my friend. But the title is calling her a master of that Variety in particular. I guess that was what I was reacting to more than anything else.

I recently acquired a couple of bottles of Randalls 1998 roussanne, which, as you know, is not that variety at all. Perhaps all open when we get together next my friend.

Truchard makes a decent one at a good price. The ESJ, IMHO, was a classic when he got Tablas Creek grapes. The last time I tasted a Bonny Doon version (about 2014) it was sweet and flabby with no acidity.

A few months ago, I had a 2001 Beckmen Roussanne that was lovely. Haven’t tried many of the more recent vintages.

-Al

Al,

Not sure if they still have any Roussanne planted at their Purissima Mtn Vineyard in Ballard Canyon. I know that they’ve grafted over stuff that didn’t do well - not sure about both Marsanne or Roussanne there anymore.

Cheers.

Bob,

One of the biggest ‘challenges’ with this variety is what Maggie described - the fact that if you pick early to ‘retain acidity’, you don’t get the richness and unctuousness the variety is known for; and if you pick too late, you get an over-abundance of that richness without any acidity, leading to a wine that might be too ‘blousey’.

That said, I’m not really looking for a ton of acidity in examples of this variety - I’m instead looking for a balance leaning towards richness without any apparent sweetness whatsoever. But perhaps that’s just me . . .

Cheers.

Larry,

Just out of curiosity–when does Roussanne ripen relative to Syrah/Grenache/Mourvedre (and does it’s budbreak/bloom time correlate with any of those grapes? I guess what I’m really asking is how much more/less hang time does it need vs. red Rhone grape varieties.

Thanks for the informative thread and for the article–fascinating stuff.

That’s a great question - and one that is not that easy to answer. I work with Rousanne from Zaca Mesa Vineyard occasionally and have for the past few years, and those grapes are usually the first to come off the vines - well before any reds that I work with. That said, I know that Stolpman usually doesn’t pick their Roussanne until nearly the end of harvest, waiting for ‘uniform ripening’ on all clusters (they actually turn each cluster to make sure that both sides turn slightly ‘russet’ colored).

Bud break is usually later than viognier or grenache blanc, for instance - and of the three main red varieties, mourvedre is usually the laggard amongst those three, at least here in SB County.

In terms of ‘hang time’, that somewhat is variable and determined by ‘winemaker style’.

Not trying to be ‘vague’ but there is so much variability as to when folks pick their grapes based on ‘style’ or ‘preference’ that I don’t want to give an ‘absolute’ answer when I don’t think it’s appropriate. Hope that helps . . .

Cheers.

Not sure if they still have any Roussanne planted at their Purissima Mtn Vineyard in Ballard Canyon. I know that they’ve grafted over stuff that didn’t do well - not sure about both Marsanne or Roussanne there anymore.

I haven’t kept up with them since I don’t get down there nearly as much as I used to. But, it appears they still have Marsanne but may have stopped with Roussanne after 2009 or 2010.

With either of those varieties, I think it can be challenging to sell them when they’re young if they are made in style that will age well.

-Al