2017 Bartlett Blueberry Winemaker’s Reserve- USA, Maine (9/17/2018)
BARREL SAMPLE: This was the most impressive young Reserve wine I’ve ever encountered from this estate. This wine will probably outlive me…and anyone that was born in 2017 too. It’s near opaque and while bold and robust there’s a restraint and life that comes screaming out of the glass with intense floral noted of lavender and lilacs framed by a hint of charred beef, orange zest, and spice. There is just enough oak to add to the framework and brisk acidity that leaves the mouth watering for a minute or more between each taste. This is a wine to blind people that don’t think they’ll like fruit wines. To be released in 2019/2020. Buy as much as you can…I’ve preordered 2 cases, 2 magnums, and a 3-Liter. There might not be much left after friends and family snap this up…Drink the 2010 Reserve (the current release) while you’re waiting for this to be ready.
Thank you, I appreciate the offer, but Bob is near retirement and he said as much the other day when we visited. My greatest fear is that I won’t have enough to last as long as I’d like and I’d over-value the wines that I do have from him so it would not be a “fair” trade. I know that he can ship and I’d strongly encourage you to reach out and see if you can buy a bottle of his Wine-Maker’s Reserve, N.V. Oak Dry Blueberry, or if you want a cool dessert wine then his Raspberry or Trio (black berry, blueberry, & raspberry) are two of my favorites to help understand his style. To be clear, while I really enjoy the dessert wines they are more in line with what I think people might imagine fruit wines to be and more like a clear representations of the fruit, sweet, and a nice surprise that they’re as clean as they are.
Here are some of the basics that I recall…he went to UC Davis in the mid-late 70’s, he recalls being in classes with Randal Graham at times over the yeas while learning about distilling…and he’s been experimenting since the early 1980’s on how to best make blueberry wines that are both serious and meant to age. While I’m bullish on these wines, so are a few other people that I think speak to the quality.
In this forum and cellar tracker RajivAyyangar is consistently rating these wines in the 90-92 which for him is high praise; he seems to average somewhere in the 80-85 realm for most wines. When the producers he most often rates in the 90’s include Musar, Paolo Bea, d’Yquem, & Allemand. Doug Schulman (missatiejacket in CT) who’s ITB in the greater Boston area and also on this forum can speak to these wines as well as he’s tasted both old and young vintages of these wines as well. I have no doubt that these are easily 30+ year wines and honestly expect that they will still be good at the 50+ year mark based on how the older bottles from the 80’s show to this day.
I’d like to weigh in that these wines are awesome. I love them and am fascinated by them. I special ordered some a few years back but sounds like I need to restock.
Truly unique wines made with a high level of craft and soul. I agree with all Kirk’s comments. Super ageworthy and structured.
I had never heard of these wines before. Very cool story. While it’s not something that I’m looking to buy, I am a big fan of the passion that goes into making these wines and the people supporting them.
They just released the 2010 Reserve…I had one just after bottling. It’s not quite on par with the 2005 or 2009 but it’s still a great wine and worthwhile sticking a few away it needs at least another year or so from my last experience. If you’re looking for immediate drinking I’d suggest that you stock up on the Oak Dry Blueberry. He’s got less than normal this year and will likely sell out in a few months.
The Reserve is $50. The NV Oak Dry Blueberry is $24 and one of the best value wines next to Coudert Cuvée Tardive. I drink so much of the NV Blueberry I’ve stopped typing notes but I just drank a bottle I purchased in 2014 a few days ago and the unanimous thought was that it was a value at the $24 price tag. These wines really remind me of a cross between high altitude reds from Italy and the best of the Cru Bojos that I love.
I think Bob opened a Blueberry wine from the '80s when I was up that he didn’t think was even a Reserve. It was great. I should probably buy a bunch of the Oak Dry Blueberry to cellar while he’s still making it. These wines really are special.
Yes, he’s stopped selling to the distributors for fear that he won’t have enough to last him until the next batch is ready to sell. I think he said he only made 20% of his usual this year. I’d assume that when they move he’ll just keep distilling and stop making wine…and at that point I’ll start my Maine tour to get all of the remaining NV Blueberry I can find.