Bedrock Wine Co. Winter Release Save The Date

Email just arrived-

"Thanks very much to all who have reached out to check in with us during the Kincade Fire. We are southeast of the fire, so our winery and tasting room operations have been unaffected other than power outages (and sending this release save the date out a few days later than normal). Our thoughts are with all those who are still evacuated and the firefighters doing amazing work putting out the fire and keeping everyone safe. So great to see that the fire is now at 60% containment and that number is fast increasing.

On happier topics, we will be having our Winter Release next week. Featuring more wines from the epic 2018 vintage, this will be one of our most stacked Winter Releases ever— including Pagani Ranch, Monte Rosso Zinfandel, Oakville Farmhouse, Dolinsek Ranch, Syrah from Bien Nacido and Hudson Vineyards and more. With that said, the Winter 2019 Bedrock Release will be going live on Tuesday, November 5th. If you have not ordered wine from us in the past, you will receive a first-come, first-serve offer on Wednesday the 13th.

If you have any questions, please let us know. To all our California neighbors, please stay safe out there. If you, like us, are looking to help out with the fire efforts, a couple organizations we’re following include:

Undocufund
Sonoma County Resilience Fund
CDP California Wildfires Recovery Fund
Stay strong!

Morgan and Chris"

Went to a house in West Sonoma last Saturday and picked up my Spring release wines. Morgan was there in a shed pouring some wines (including the Bien Nacido Syrah) and chit chatting with everyone. First time I’ve ever picked up a wineries release from a house. Kind of cool.

Looking forward to the upcoming releases-Pagani Ranch and Hudson especially!

And here I thought I was done buying wine for the year.

If the 2018 OVZ is any predictor of quality, the 2018 heritage blends are looking to be nothing short of great.

Anyone cracked one of the 2017 Bien Nacido X-Block’s yet?

Agree

Morgan, is it possible to get the release notes early (to plan purchasing)?

But of course. With the usual warning that these have not been hard-edited yet so please excuse any typos, phrasing issues, overly forced metaphors/analogies/similes etc.:

2018 Wirz Riesling, Cienega Valley

From own-rooted vines planted in 1963 in the Cienega Valley on sandy soils derived of limestone and granite, this vineyard put out a scant 1-1.5 tons per acre of perfumed, vibrant fruit in 2018. For those wondering where Cienega Valley is (I had to look at a map the first time) it is located to the east of the Gabilan Range near the eastern entrance to Pinnacle National Park. The best known winery in the area is Calera, and indeed the first Calera wine ever made came from Wirz back in the 1970s. The 2018 is one of my favorite versions of this wine as it combines its natural savory, mineral texture with classic Riesling flowery perfume (gardenia anyone?). This wine is fermented dry (we will invariably get a lot of questions since it is riesling) and made more in the style of Alsatian, Austrian or Grosses Gewachs iterations of the variety.


2018 Judge Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, Bennett Valley

The 2018 vintage was a kind one at this extremely cool site situated on the western edge of Bennett Valley. Slightly heavier crops combined with the slow ripening cycle of 2018 meant we were not picking this until nearly October. As was the case with lots of sites in 2018 we timed our pick here based as much on pH and acidity as sugar ripeness- this is always a naturally vibrant site with pH’s regularly below 3.15 and in 2018 we had to wait for the acidities to come into balance (and recheck the calibration on our pH meter a few too many times). The resulting wines is lovely- possessing the site’s characteristic soaring perfume and almost cassis-tinted fruit profile combined with zingy acidity. Since this is barrel fermented in a combination of new and old oak barrels (mainly Dagueneau cigare barrels and Stockinger) I usually feel that stylistically the closest comparison is white Bordeaux, however this year it feels like that trends to the north and resembles the finer, barrel-fermented, examples of Pouilly-Fume and Sancerre.


2018 Monte Rosso Zinfandel, Sonoma Valley

After a year off in 2017 we were thrilled to welcome this iconic site back to the fold in 2018. Sourced from the same block of westward sloping ancient vines as previous vintages this wine showcases the remarkable depth, mountain spice and perfume this vineyard is famous for. This is prototypical mountain Zinfandel in all the good ways. The 2018 is a doozy and one of the strongest vintages I can remember us making off the vineyard. Also, the magnums have been finished in hot pink wax that both matches the pantone color on the label hash mark but also definitely matches Monte Rosso’s badass vineyard manager Brenae Royal’s nail color on any given day- something she is quite pleased with.


2018 Pagani Ranch Heritage Wine, Sonoma Valley

2018 was the first year we got to work with all four of the “iconic” ancient vineyards of Sonoma Valley- Bedrock, Monte Rosso, Old Hill and Pagani—and as always the Pagani is unique as ever. Grown on soils derived from Sonoma Mountain rather than Mt. Veeder and located in a cooler pocket between Glen Ellen and Kenwood, Pagani always feel like it is located 30 miles away from the others rather than 3. The cool site, extended hangtime, and the higher percentage of Alicante Bouschet, Lenoir, Grand Noir and Petite Sirah in the field blend have resulted in a an inky, atrementous wine filled with depth and power. In typical 2018 fashion though this weight is buoyed by natural freshness. Sports analogy alert: Zion Williamson, if he ever gets on the court.


2018 Dolinsek Ranch Heritage Wine, Russian River Valley

From vines planted in 1910 on north facing slopes in the western Russian River Valley the 2018 Dolinsek Ranch is one of the best we have made in the decade we have been working with this beautiful site. Now retired, owner Jim Dolinsek does nearly all the work in the vineyard himself- a rather Herculean task considering the old vines alone are 6 acres. This classic field-blended vineyard enjoyed a good crop year in 2018, meaning it came in at about .75 tons per acre. As usual this will be one of the first wines of the vintage to open up and show its vibrant and delicious self.


2018 Vineyard Under the Mountain Heritage Wine, Santa Clara County

One of the most intriguing sites we work with, Vineyard Under the Mountain was planted in the 1910s in the hills to the west of Morgan Hill (my favorite hill) and just a little south of Hecker Pass. Located just a couple hundred below the elevation line for the Santa Cruz Mountains the vineyard is a rare remaining old vineyard in an area once renowned for its quality wine production. The 2018, which is composed primarily of Zinfandel and Carignan showcases the beautiful, precise fruit of the location and the brightness that comes with exposure to the Pacific Ocean. This will take a little while to unfurl but promises great rewards when it does.


2018 Pato Heritage Wine, Contra Costa County

As always, Pato is the yin to the Evangelho yang of our Contra Costa County estate sites. While Evangelho tends to be more graceful, Pato is weightier, darker and maybe a bit more intense. If Evangelho is ballet, Pato is B-Boy- both cut from the same muscular cloth but Pato willing to pick up a little more dirt. What I love about Pato is how despite its richness (the vineyard is in a warmer site and has Petite Sirah while Evangelho has none) you can still see the burnished tannin provided by the sandy soils of the site. It is definitely worth opening this and an Evangelho side-by-side to see the two faces of Contra Costa County.


2018 Schmiedt Road Zinfandel, Lodi
If there is any vineyard that has responded to the thoughtful work and ministrations of our vineyard team, Jake and Sarah, it is Katushas’ Vineyard. When we bought it in 2014 it was in about as bad shape as I have seen an old vineyard. In subsequent years, through careful use of soil amendments, cover crops, dramatic repruning to restore the old head-training system, shoot thinning, fruit thinning, and everything else the vineyard looks like the jewel we were hoping it would be. The 2018 is predominately from Katushas’ along with a quotient from the excellent Kirschenmann Vineyard located on the other side of Schmiedt Road. Our hope is always to make a wine of elegance and poise that belies the somewhat crass reputation of Lodi as making alcoholic, fruit bombs. The sandy soils, the cool breezes off the Mokelumne and the nearly pure Zinfandel at the site make for one of my favorite and unique expressions of Zinfandel in the state.


2018 Oakville Farmhouse Heritage Wine, Oakville

Every year we get to farm this vineyard and produce this wine I need to pinch myself. The little 2.5 acre patch of vines dating to the 1930s represents the oldest vineyard left in Oakville. Though surrounded by some bigwigs of the Napa Cabernet scene (Harlan, Promontory, Futo, etc.) this vineyard is composed of a varietal mix that harkens to a different, more diverse, time in Napa Valley’s history. Composed of Negrette, Petite Sirah, Mondeuse, Zinfandel, Carignan along with a small amount of Chenin Blanc, Malvasia Bianca, Colombard, Semillon and Muscadelle, this wine somehow still screams of Oakville. Dark fruit, suave tannins, a trademark hit of dark cassis fruit, this makes one of my favorites wines every vintage. Unfortunately, these vines only produce about 1.5 tons per acre so there is never much of it to go around.


2018 California Syrah

As usual our value offering of Syrah is primarily made up of declassified lots of our vineyard designated wines. In 2018 this means Hudson, Griffin’s Lair, Alder Springs, Weill, Shake Ridge and others make the majority of the blends combined with small amounts of Bedrock Vineyard Syrah, Walker Vine Hill and others. All lots saw some use of whole-cluster (ranging from 20-100%) and there is a small amount of Viognier also cofermented in a few of the lots. Elevage was done in a variety of barrel sizes, a small fraction of which were new. Perfumed, peppery and meaty this wine should slay it for the price. Back up the truck!


2018 Bien Nacido Syrah “X” Block, Santa Maria

Our second vintage from this iconic, cool-climate, site in Santa Maria Valley. Originally planted to Riesling on its own roots in 1973 this block was top worked to Syrah in 1986 at the behest of Rhone Ranger legend Bob Lindquist (whose winery was located on the vineyard). Since that point it has made some of the archetypical Syrah’s of California- made by other California legends like Randall Graham and future legends like Sashi Moorman at Piedrassasi (that’s right, I said it and not just because we share an alma mater). Planted on calcerous, limestone-derived soils this vineyard is incredible not just for its terroir but also because it is the only site where I have seen truly physiologically ripe, dimpling, Syrah fruit at under 22 brix. The result is a wine of remarkable restraint and elegance, full of pepper and violet and possessing a remarkably lacy texture for Syrah. The wine was vinified in several small oak tanks with whole-cluster percentages ranging from 40% to 100%. Elevage was carried out predominately in large format barrels to retain precision and perfume. Oh, and this finished at 12.5% alcohol.

2018 Hudson Syrah T’n’S, Napa Carneros

It is really fun to pair this with the Bien Nacido on this release. What Bien Nacido means to the early Syrah movement in California on the Central Coast is what Hudson means to those of us growing up learning the great potentialities of Syrah on the North Coast. Lee Hudson was approached by a young winemaker named Michael Havens in the late 1980s about planting Syrah at his Carneros Vineyard- a site largely thought to be too cold to ripen the late maturing grape. Lee, always one for a challenge, assented and ended up developing several blocks of Syrah for Michael (and soon thereafter John Kongsgaard) at his impeccably farmed ranch. The initial wines from the ranch were the bellwether for what was possible with Syrah on the North Coast and many are absolute stunners to this day (a 1999 T-block from Havens was a dead ringer for good year Jamet Cote Rotie in a blind tasting recently). I feel remarkably fortunate that after the sale of Havens Wine Cellars that Michael put in a good word for this 27-year-old kid and in 2008 we started receiving fruit from the ranch, including the 1993 planted T-block. If Bien Nacido shows all the pepper and almost unbearable lightness of being of Syrah on calcerous soils of Santa Maria, Hudson shows the weighty, meaty richness of Syrah grown on the lower pH soils of the North Coast. This is enveloping Syrah, with all the classic olive and cured meat the site is known for.


2016 Montecillo Vineyard Cabernet “T5”

Every once in a while we see something in the cellar that is just too cool not to bottle up. This is the case with the 2016 Montecillo Vineyard T5 bottling. Each year we are fortunate to get a couple of the exceptionally rare Taransaud T5 barrels- to get on the allocation list for these barrels is the winemaker equivalent of getting on the DRC private client list or SQN mailing list. Made by our favorite cooper, these barrels are made from wood that has been aged for 5 full years (most barrels are 18-30 months) and then coopered and toasted by one of the Master Coopers at Taransaud. The resulting barrels are extraordinarily elegant and perfumed. In 2016 we had enough Montecillo Cab that we thought it would be cool to make an iteration of the wine that was only aged in T5 barrels. This 2 barrel lot was bottled at the same time as the normal Montecillo but has been aged in our warehouse for some additional time to allow the oak to integrate a bit more. There are only 500 bottles of this to go around so allocations will be tight.

Oh my. This may qualify as the best release from Bedrock ever and that is a strong statement.

I opened the 2017 sonoma cabernet yesterday and it’s really terrific. tastes to me how a budget california cab should taste. good stuff.

Excited to add more Bedrock to my cellar.

A serious, serious release. Going to have to work hard to keep it reasonable as there’s just no room left.

Wow. No idea how I’m going to edit down my wants here!

Initially narrowed down to 5 wines I want to order…need to get it down to 3.

Monte Rosso, Dolinsek*, and???

*Dolinsek tends to be tiny allocations, so I might be able to grab a fourth.

Without question Farmhouse Heritage. One of the most unique wines I have tasted (tasted 3 times over 2 vintages).

Tom
PS: Having said that I loved the 2017 version of the Bien Nacido Syrah [cheers.gif]

Probably Farmhouse, but I really like T&S.

Ugh.

So much want but budget’s so very weak.

Super cool. Farmhouse for sure. While I normally get the field blends, the Cab and Block X syrah sounds quite appealing. Thanks, Morgan!

Thank you Morgan! Although I am out of cellar space this will be at least a case purchase. Wow!

thank you so much for the breakdown Morgan!

this is a crazy list of wines. definitely need to grab as much Cali Syrah as possible… plus the farmhouse… and the Bien Nacido… and the Hudson… and Monte rosso…

this is gonna be a major issue for my wallet.