*NEWBIE* - Terratorium Wines - Exploration of California Terroir by two Friends

BerserkerDay 16 Forum (January 31, 2025)
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Hello Wine Berserkers!

Ben Matthews and Jim Duane here from Terratorium. We’re thrilled to join you for BerserkerDay 16 and share the story behind Terratorium. If you’re here you know that wine isn’t just about what’s in the bottle—it’s about the people, places, and stories that shape it. For us, it all started with the Inside Winemaking Podcast.

Jim launched the podcast in 2014 to connect with Napa Valley winemakers and learn from their expertise. Ben, a long-time listener and home winemaker, found inspiration there to take the leap into commercial winemaking. After meeting on the first year of Jim’s Deep Winemaking seminar in 2017, we struck up a friendship that led Ben to leave his corporate career and work the 2018 harvest at Seavey Vineyard.

That vintage, that we captured a summary of on Episode 83 of Inside Winemaking, solidified one thing: we wanted to create a winery that celebrated incredible vineyards and made wine accessible to more people. A few weeks later, Terratorium was born.

What Is Terratorium?

Our name comes from the root of the French word terroir, symbolizing our commitment to exploring how vineyard environments shape great wine. We work with exceptional sites across California—from the historic Nervo Ranch in Alexander Valley to the windswept Sta. Rita Hills and beyond—to craft wines that reflect their origins.

We focus on:

  • Unique vineyards: Seeking out the extraordinary over the expected.

  • Precision winemaking: A hands-off approach guided by thoughtful decisions.

  • Value: Delivering wines that drink well above their price point.

As a “digital-first winery,” our intention from the outset was to over-invest in sourcing high quality fruit —so you get exceptional quality without the markup of traditional distribution.

BerserkerDay 16 Offer

We are Newbies, so for our first BD we are keeping this offer super simple.

For BerserkerDay 16, we’re offering 20% off all orders of six bottles or more.

Just build your case of six bottles or more and use code BD16Terratorium

Our Current Releases & Pricing

Here’s what’s currently in the Terratorium lineup, along with the Wine Enthusiast scores for each wine:

  • 2023 Rosé of Grenache (Starfield Vineyards, El Dorado) – 91 points, (“Best Buy” WE 2024) $28 Retail / $22.40 with discount.

  • 2022 Pinot Noir (Drum Canyon Vineyard, Sta. Rita Hills) – 90 points, (“Best Buy” WE 2024) $38 Retail / $30.40 with discount

  • 2023 Cabernet Franc (Nervo Ranch Vineyard, Alexander Valley) – (previous release 2021 named Editor’s Choice and 94 points WE) $42 Retail - $33.60 with discount.

  • 2023 Sauvignon Blanc (River Road Ranch Vineyard, Russian River Valley) – $26.00 retail / $20.80 with Discount.

  • 2021 Riesling (Tondré Grapefield, Santa Lucia Highlands) $28 Retail / $22.40 with discount. (Technical Winemaking details captured in Episode 157 of Inside Winemaking Podcast)

SHIPPING: We highly subsidize shipping, so unfortunately, we cannot offer any additional discounts that we already do. ALL SHIPPING cost from us will range from $15.00 - 30.00 to ship UPS ground in the continental United States.

SHIPPING STATES: We can ship to the following states:

AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, WA, WV, WI, WY

Cannot ship to: AL, IL, MS, ND, NH, UT, VA, and VT

Wine Tasting Notes:

  • 2023 Rosé of Grenache One of our most popular wines, this Provence-inspired Rosé is bright, crisp, and refreshing. It bursts with flavors of grapefruit, strawberry, and lemongrass, complemented by subtle hints of cucumber and peach blossom. A vibrant acidity and clean, palate-cleansing finish enhances its versatility and appeal. abv 13.0%

  • 2022 Pinot Noir (Bright and garnet-red, this vibrant Pinot Noir layers pomegranate and red plum with delicate floral aromas of hibiscus. Subtle hints of cardamom and spice add depth as the wine opens. Its lively acidity and medium structure highlight the Sta. Rita Hills terroir, balanced by smooth tannins for a wine full of energy and complexity. abv. 13.9%

  • 2023 Cabernet Franc (Nervo Ranch Vineyard, Alexander Valley) – Sourced from the historic Nervo Ranch Vineyard in Alexander Valley, this bright ruby Cabernet Franc captures the bold fruit and earthy complexity of the variety. Grown on steep, shale-rich slopes, the unique terroir of the vineyard enhances the wine’s depth, making an immediate impression with its vivid color and distinctive character. abv. 14.6%

  • 2023 Sauvignon Blanc is a pale straw color that instantly shows it’s full of energy. It opens with bold aromas of tropical fruit and lemongrass, followed by flavors of pear and white peach, with a nice kick of citrus zest, kiwi, and more lemongrass to round it out. The wine’s bright acidity refreshes your palate, leaving you wanting another sip. We love how this wine showcases the vibrant, fresh character we strive for, coming from the incredible River Road Ranch Vineyard in the heart of Russian River Valley. abv. 12.6%

  • 2021 Riesling (Tondré Grapefield, Santa Lucia Highlands. This 2021 Riesling’s electric freshness is balanced with touch of fruit for texture. This bright wine is primarily characterized by zippy lemon complemented with layers of beeswax. With each sip, the fresh acid profile cleanses your palate and leaves you wanting to come back for more. As the wine evolves in the glass it reveals complex flavors of lime, petrol and rosemary, among others, that are typical of the Riesling variety. 100% Riesling - slightly Off-Dry to Dry in style. abv. 12.5%

Thank You

We deeply value this community’s appreciation for craft, authenticity, and quality. Thank you—your support allows us to create crisp, clean, and simple wines that showcase the exceptional vineyards we are privileged to work with across California. - Ben & Jim

Click here to explore our wines and claim your BerserkerDay discount. Cheers!

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@L_Harris and I got to try a few of the Terratorium bottles last year with our respective tasting groups. I can’t seem to find my detailed TNs but I remember the cabernet franc was a standout and delish (was the '21 vintage then). Happy to see @Ben_Matthews and @Jim_Duane getting in on Berserker Day 16! Love the Inside Winemaking podcast too :smiley:

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Thanks you Brian! We appreciate the feedback you provided last year on the evaluation. We are very excited to FINALLY be part of Berserker Day 16! Looking forward to cutting our teeth as Newbies!

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A definite must try! Big fan of the riesling.

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Thank you Emma! Riesling has a special place in my heart and even though it was a hell of a fermentation to manage we couldn’t be happier with that wine. It is almost gone so get it while it lasts!

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I have my tasting notes from last year! Wines not exactly the same vintage as this year’s offers (other than the Riesling it looks like), but hopefully the notes from last year will help folks trying to decide. For me Cab Franc was a big winner!

Terratorium Wines:

I was fortunate enough to be selected to lead a group tasting of three Terratorium wines in the lead up to BerserkerDay this year. In total four of us tried the wines, so I will share each of our experiences with each. At the time of writing this, I am unaware of the specific offer for Berserker Day, so will refrain from making an assessment on the pricing of the offer, and really just give our collective sense of how we enjoyed the wines.

TL:DR - all three wines were very interesting. The Riesling was more ‘off-dry’ than dry, which is less to my palate, but was very nice. The Rose was described by one taster as a “Roller coaster on the palate” - super interesting. The highlight to me, though, was the Cab Franc, which I found absolutely delicious, and even better with our dinner.

We tasted these wines first on their own, and then with a dinner of broiled shrimp in a lemon-butter-dill sauce, followed by roasted duck breast with a berry sauce (infamous in our family for how hard it is to pair wine with!) - note that where these pairings didn’t work, its our failing to find the pairing, not a slight on the wines!

2021 Terratorium Riesling - Santa Lucia Highlands

Overall a nice example of an off-dry Riesling. Would work nicely as a dessert wine or we thought with Asian cuisine.

Taster 1:

Color: Straw

Nose: Lime, grass, stone/mineral notes

Palate: Honey, melon, lime, pineapple - with the citrus acidity coming out more as the wine opened up a bit.

With Shrimp: For me not a great pairing - sweetness overwhelming the shrimp a bit.

Taster 2:

Color: Straw

Nose: Lemon, honey

Palate: Lemon and honey dominate; the honey adds sweetness but also helps to smooth out the balance of the wine. Not an overly sweet wine - but there is some sweetness to round out the acidity of the citrus flavors. Could see this as a nice pre-picnic sipper for a Summer or Springtime outing.

With Shrimp: The wine was too sweet for this dish.

Taster 3:

Color: Straw to gold

Nose: Good legs, sweet notes along with tropical fruit - Lychee?

Palate: Tropical fruit especially. More lemon and honey notes as it opens up in the glass - serve with Asian food, probably not as an aperitif

Taster 4:

Color: Straw

Nose: grass and light minerality with lemon predominating

Palate: honeysuckle and lemony citrus predominated. Clean flavors though it changed a bit as it warmed up with acid becoming more prominent.

Notes: Decent as a sipper. Wouldn’t pair with shrimp or a heavier seafood again but might try with oysters or a light citrus heavy Asian salad.

2022 Terratorium Rose of Grenache - El Dorado

Very pleasant Rose, with some really interesting flavors and complexity. One taster said ‘it’s a real roller coaster on the palate!’

Taster 1:

Color: Pink

Nose: Strawberry, honey, citrus notes

Palate: Starts sweet, then some texture and taste of cucumber and berry, evolving into a soft grapefruit acidity on the finish.

Taster 2:

Color: Light pink

Nose: light on the nose, with a hint of strawberry

Palate: Cucumber, light fruit - strawberry and hint of watermelon. Tried with a nutty cheese which neutralized some of the acidity in the finish. Would work well with white fish and lightly seasoned seafood.

Taster 3:

Color: Amber

Nose: Refreshing, berry notes

Palate: Lovely taste! Honey, slight acidity. Great aperitif wine. Strawberry lends sweetness before a light citrus (grapefruit) on a long finish.

Taster 4:

Color: Rose

Nose: immediately got a lot of strawberry; and some honey and crisp clean brightness

Palate: honey and strawberry dominate, with cucumber undertones and some grapefruit-adjacent acidity on the long sour finish.

Notes: good work well with aperitifs; the sourness of the finish was tempered nicely by by a stronger cheese

2021 Terratorium Cabernet Franc

My wine of the night - tannins better integrated than I would have expected in a younger wine. Lots of really nice spice and earthy notes along with dark forest berries. Went deliciously with our dinner, which really brought the soft tannins, spices and earthy notes more to the fore. Really delicious!

Taster 1:

Color: Red to Purple

Nose: Vanilla, banking spice, orange peel

Palate: Blackberry, with soft balanced tannins, and tobacco notes. Spices less prevalent on the palate. Overall lovely, smooth and balanced.

With Duck: Fruit sauce with the duck muted some of the berry notes, leaving a delicious earthy wine with soft tannins. Great pairing!

Taster 2:

Color: Purple

Nose: Vanilla, Molasses, plenty of sweetness

Palate: Starts with spice and berries, leading into soft tobacco flavors on the finish and a touch of bitterness. Would go well with steak and richer, fatty meats.

With Duck: The complexity of the wine really shone through with an elevation of the earthiness of the wine that I didn’t taste prior to the meal pairing.

Taster 3:

Color: Purple

Nose: Molasses, Vanilla, Buttered toast, Orange Peel

Palate: Nose is more complex, tannins coming to the fore.

With duck: Paired really nicely, both with and without the fruit sauce

Taster 4:

Color: Purple

Nose: Blueberry, Vanilla buttercream, baking spices, touch of orange or lemon peel?

Palate: berry flavor shifted towards blackberry, sweet tobacco notes, softer tannins and a clean flavor overall.

Notes: held up decently with duck, but might pair it with a heavier chicken or lighter beef dish, like a steak salad. Also very comfortable as a sipper; this was my favorite of the night!

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Thanks again for the great tasting notes Luke! It is always great to see detailed professional analysis on our wines.

The 2023 Cabernet Franc and 2023 Rose are very similar in style, but show some vintage variation. No changes to the winemaking fundamental techniques on either wine. The Rosé in particular has a more prominent strawberry and lemon grass than the 2022 IMO, while the 2023 CF went more black plume compared to blackberry in the fruit profile. The CF still has that roasted red pepper and tobacco profile that we had on the 2021.

Looking forward to sharing this with more folks today!!

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Is there a code for the BerserkerDay discount? I used the link in your email, but my cart shows regular prices.

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BD16Terratorium. at checkout will do the trick!

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JIM!!! Love your pod! Welcome to WB!

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Thanks David!!