There is now an official Tench Vineyards Wine. One of the owners has last name Tench. Wine made by Russell Bevan. Anyone know about this and how it compares in style to other wines made from that vineyard?
Thanks,
Fred
There was a thread started in 2017 for their 1st vintage release of their 2016 cab sauv and sauvignon Blanc.
Here is the link to that thread.
Very interesting story and super nice family based on my limited interactions with them for allocation offers and a few phone calls.
Hope this helps!
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Fred…My wife and I tasted with Margaret three weeks ago. Beyond nice…made us feel so welcome…like we were doing her a favor. Toured the facility and then tasted the 2018 Cab, 2018 red blend (blanking on the name) and 2020 Sauv Blanc. The reds were nice and we purchased a few of the blend. The Sauv Blanc was perhaps our wow wine of the trip…they only made 55 cases and we bought what Margaret would sell. Fair warning…be prepared to throw a ball to their dog a minimum of 20 times!
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Bromfield
Think of it as Screaming Eagle Lite.
95% the wine at 30% the price
Interesting statement. Please expand on this. I do realize Screaming Eagle’s plot is right near Tench, but microclimates and soil variations can make different rows taste different and have different quality.
Wouldn’t other “Tench” wines be the same? Bevan’ s Tench’s, Lerner Project’s Tench, etc.? Bevan makes both!
I wonder if there are any non-Bevan Tench wines.
Riverain and Fairchild Stones No. 3
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Ya, I just looked this up AFTER I asked…my fault.
Riverain by TRB and Fairchild by Melkha
Addax and PerUS also has a Tench, also by Bevan.
I wonder who makes the best Tench wine……opinions?
DuMOL also made a very good Tench Cabernet but they don’t use the fruit any longer.
I know they’re close neighbors. I haven’t tasted Tench Vineyard’s wines (tasted other producers Tench bottlings) so am only throwing a dart here. Composition-wise both the Tench Vineyards wines have a significant Petite Verdot component (Cab- Cab & PV; Merlot Blend- Merlot, CS, PV) while Screagle doesn’t have any PV but adds some cab franc (CS, Merlot & CF), so I’d guess they’d be a bit different.
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I’ve only had Bevan’s Tench bottlings: Tench, Tench EE, & Calixtro. The '16 Calixtro is amazing and my favorite so far of his Tench bottles.
I had the Riverain 17’ at a wine dinner back in June. It was at the tail end of 10+ bottles and opened late in the night. Way too young to give an honest assessment of the wine. It needs more time. I do have bottles from Tench but they are in deep storage off site. I will age those 10+ before I get to them.
I Was being somewhat sarcastic. They are right next to each other, so the micro climate thing is probably the same unless you are a super taster.
I have had Nickel and Nickel Tench Cab, and it is heads above all their other bottlings. The land is obviously special and with a VERY talented winemaker, they will be equally as good (if different) as SE IMNHO.
Alpha Omega just started offering a Tench Cabernet this year, with Andy Erickson as the winemaker.
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Riverain Tench is amazing - I recall it very fondly, at an event just prior to Covid
Nickel and Nickel had a bottling of it. DuMol had one year of it too. I taste tested them against Riverain and TRB was my favorite. I have one bottle left of the Nickel and DuMol and I put them away for awhile to try it again.
I’m interested in anything Tench, but a lot of it is more than I like to spend.
I bought a few bottles of the 2017 when it came out and was curious that when it was offered, it stated “Cabernet Sauvignon” but when I received the bottles all they say is “Red Blend”. I am assuming that the majority of this is CS however does anyone know the actual blend. And did something change between the offering and the actual release?
Clear bias here, but the vineyard and the family are pretty fantastic. The vineyard has a number of varietals and the SB (which Mike Smith made several years back) now produced by the Tench family is really excellent, as of course are many of the reds from Russell, etc. Lots of rocks and red soil that is similar to SE and the soils up the hill including Backus, Weitz (Maybach), Dalla Valle, Au Paradis, etc.
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Had a great tasting at Tench last weekend.
FYI, Phillippe Melka is the winemaker beginning with the 2021 vintage.
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