With BD right around the corner, I wanted to start a thread and share some TN’s for a producer who I know is participating again this year (I think they were a newbie last year?), Tekstura Winery out of Willamette Valley (Eola-Amity Hills to be precise). @Michael_Baryla and I have followed each other on Instagram for a while now, but for some reason, I have never tried his wines. He was kind enough to help me remedy that by sending me some the other day, and I have been DAMNED impressed with what I’ve tasted so far! I’ll keep adding notes as I ‘work’ through some of these, but I’d love to hear from others here as well who are familiar with the wines……and can confirm that I’m not crazy for liking them as much as I do, ha!
Wow! Bright, zippy notes of lemon curd, citrus, and a slight herbal component on the incredibly long finish adds a ton of intrigue (still tasting this 45 seconds later). There is literally loads of acidity here creating a wonderful mouthfeel, providing perfect balance, and making this just an absolute joy to drink. It’s delicious and almost refreshing, but also very complex and contemplative at the same time. This has ‘Berserkers’ written all over it. Color me very, very impressed! I admittedly do not drink Albarino all that often, but this is, without a doubt, the best example that I’ve ever had……and it’s from Oregon! Candidly, I didn’t even realize that they grew Albarino in Oregon……but based off of this wine, they should be growing a lot more of it! Excellent stuff. I didn’t know this at the time, but I guess WE gave this one 96 points. I can’t disagree!
Yet again, my first reaction as soon as I poured the wine was ‘Wow!’! Freshly squeezed grapefruit is literally leaping from the glass. I honestly sat there and smelled it for a couple minutes before taking a sip, as I don’t think that I’ve ever gotten such a clear and precise nose of grapefruit on a wine before. Love it! In the mouth this is really well balanced with plenty of zippy citrus-filled acidity, more grapefruit, and a VERY slight herbal note on the long finish (*which most definitely adds intrigue and a more ‘complete’ feel to the wine). I’m sensing a trend here with these Tekstura whites in that they are delicious and almost refreshing because of the acidity and the overall balance, but they are also incredibly complex and demand your full attention. Right in my wheelhouse!
2021 Tekstura Chardonnay, Beacon Hill Vineyard, Yamhill-Carlton.
Man, these Tekstura whites are absolute FIRE!! Beautiful notes of lemon citrus, with a hint of reduction on the long finish which works incredibly well here. But what really stands out is the mouthfeel. The wine hits your palate with such a light, etheral touch, but then delicately flows across your palate with bright zippy fruit that makes you perk up and pay attention. This is truly a joy to drink and even though it’s incredibly good right now, you can tell that there is still tremendous upside to laying this bottle down over the next 5+ years. Well done @Michael_Baryla
Thanks Dave, i thought i had made it clear as well but just to elaborate for you @Charles_Perry , Mike and I have interacted for a long time on Instagram but i’ve never tasted his wines. He was nice enough to send me some so that i could try them and give him my thoughts. I’m not a ‘wine influencer’ (clearly, ha!) And there was never any sort of conversation around me posting notes (i actually had to ask him if they were participating in BD this year and make sure he was ok with me posting), but I’ve been pretty blown away by these whites and figured other peeps would like to know leading up to BD.
MC members do this in advance of BD for newbie sellers. I don’t believe Tekstura is a newbie seller this year, and a don’t believe this is part of that program.
Again, I’m not accusing @Rich_Brown of any dishonesty. I was just trying to get clarity so I could put these tasting notes in context.
My wife and I have quite a few tattoos and we have been going to one of the best guys on the west coast for about 10 years now. His name is Nic Westfall and he owns The Skull Museum.
He is an exceptional artist and when we were looking for label design ideas I reached out to him. I sent him a few pictures of grape vines and told him to do whatever he wanted.
He painted that vine (oil on canvas). We liked it so much that we used it for the label. The original is hanging in the tasting room.
Small world… I met Michael and his Wife and Wally’s Beverly Hills last year. Super nice people. I forget what it was but they generously shared a rather funky sparkling wine with me. I meant to buy some of their wine but the memory is only now racing back to me reading this post.
Tattoo collector myself, just checked out his portfolio on IG, it’s fantastic. Very cool that he did you label - looking forward to picking some up on Berserker day!
