Co-Sign. Just Checked my own notes in CT to validate and can concur. The 2010 a worthy runner up. That being said, my notes end with the 17 as that’s when the wines began to lose some allure for me.
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Agreed across the board! That 13 BdB is just a killer wine 
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Since I picked it out among many that I’ve tried, I really appreciate that kind of validation. Thanks!
I’m going to keep going with the notes as I opened the last of the 2020s that I had not tried yet - the 2020 Heintz Vineyard Blanc de Blancs. It has the same profile that the other 2020s had, but to a much lesser degree. That said, it is still not a very good wine.
Aromas of oak, tart lime, and nail polish remover mix with pickled, green vegetable notes. With some aeration and glass swirling, the pickled green notes fade and are replaced with more of a sour, buttermilk character. The palate is full of dry oak, cinnamon spiced apples, tart green citrus, and an odd bitterness. Just before the finish, there is an enjoyable, juicy citrus note that comes out, but this disappears as dry, bitter notes take over on a finish that is thankfully short. This is a confusing wine that lacks focus and comes across as a bit of a mess. It isn’t undrinkable, but nothing is in balance and many sparkling wines in the $10-$25 price range are more enjoyable.
At this point, it seems clear that Ultramarine started making some winemaking changes in 2018 and pushed increasingly stronger in this direction of change in each the following vintages of 2019 and 2020. As sparkling wines take a few years to release, I have no idea if and when it has been noted by Ultramarine that something has gone in the wrong direction. We will have to see what the 2021-2024 vintages have to bring as it is possible that things might get worse before they get better.
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The lack of a sell out email says it all
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Can you think of what could cause that flavor profile?
I have absolutely no idea although I have not tried to research it. Based on the fact that there is a common trend in all of the wines and many of the offensive aromas do disappear or change (even if it takes multiple days and major aeration), my guess is that it has something to do with reduction.
Changing topics, I also wonder if maybe there is a case of cellar palate going on. Sometimes you are so used to tasting your own wines that you stop seeing the faults in them. It can take a big reset to finally have an open mind again and sometimes a head winemaker change is necessary.
While I thought it was reduction too, the fact that the wine I had was so undrinkable on the palate - and continued to be so even with a couple of hours of air - led me away from that as the culprit. It was truly like nothing else I’d ever had before or since.
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Sean,
The thing is that most of the horrible notes do seem to disappear, greatly fade, or transition into a different note. It seems to take an unreasonable amount of air and time for this to happen and I would also bet that there is a lot of bottle variation on this. All of this leads to my best guess that what we are experiencing is somehow reduction related. Reduction covers a pretty broad range of compounds and reactions and seems to fit the bill for at least some of the problems we are seeing. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was more than just reduction issues going on and that we may be having a synergistic negative effect from multiple changes.
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No prob with the 2018 Mara BdB drinkin right now. VERY sour tarts…shows the classic UM apple and exotic almond liqueur…not as rich as others…more lean, yet I do dig the energy! Not terribly complex…some brioche and ginger cookie…dries out on the finish. Not my fav…but still satisfying, and unique in the bubble world. 93pts
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Glad you are enjoying it. I had two bottles of the 2019, and they were both wretched and undrinkable.
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Yeah I feel like I’m playing Russian Roulette…and purposefully not trying any 2020’s or the 19’s that have turned! I’ve not experienced a bad one yet…jinx!
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So whats your plan for your 19/20’s? Age them? Or take a gamble sooner?
I’m just going to sit on them and see what happens. No sense on opening any right now, but who knows…maybe age will make um at least drinkable…maybe cruse will offer an exchange? I have plenty others that still hold that UM magic for me.
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Curiosity got the better of me, and I opened my one bottle of the 2020 BdN. Here’s the TN I posted to CT:
After the many comments here and on Berserkers about the 2019 and 2020 vintages, I finally decided to open my one bottle of this with no small amount of trepidation. I was met with green vegetable notes and hints of jalapeno. Not as overwhelming as I had feared, and not entirely undrinkable, but certainly not ideal. What to do? Drank over two nights, paired with Howlin’ Ray’s extra hot chicken (the pickles, in particular made for a complementary pairing before my taste buds were cauterized by the chicken) the first night, and mole chicken livened up with habanero dust the second night.
In short, if I couldn’t actually taste the wine, I was able to enjoy the acidity and cleansing of the fizz. Glad I only bought one of these. My mouth and GI tract can only take so much spicy food these days.
Now, what to do with the rosés in my cellar? Indian and Ethiopian?
Edit: I updated my TN to note that the jalapeno/green notes were MUCH stronger on night 2. It definitely did not improve with air. I ended up dumping the last glass as just not being worth it.
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Make au jus with prime ribs for the rosé for the horseradish. And probably serve Riesling or Gewurztraminer with the biryani.
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Enjoyed a 2018 Hirsch Rose the other night, no issues. Slightly fruitier than I was hoping for, but no weird asparagus flavors.
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I opened a bottle of 2019 Hirsch Rose at a lovely event with SF Berserkers hosted by @JamesW. It showed very poorly, marred by dirty root vegetable flavors and persistent herbaceous notes that led some (@Keith_A_k_e_r_s) to suggest geosmin taint. Whatever was affecting it, it started off bad and only got worse, being barely drinkable after 3 hours open.
- 2019 Ultramarine Sparkling Rosé Hirsch Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (10/6/2025)
Second of two bottles. Opened at a WineBerserkers gathering.
This started off strange but almost likeable - there were red fruit aromas, though marred by herbal notes, on the nose. The palate had a strong note of celery sticks towards the mid-palate, but a decently red-fruited attack.
Three hours later, the fruit was totally gone, and there was a strong impression of dried dirt rising from the glass. As stated in my prior note, a note very reminiscent of unwashed potatoes. The fruit had totally faded from the joyless palate, which had a displeasing metallic, earthy taste, like drinking from a garden hose that's been lying in the sun too long. Totally undrinkable.
Consensus from the 10+ experienced palates at the event was that something was wrong - hypotheses ranged from hydric stress to geosmin taint. Based on its performance after 3 hours of bottle air, I am highly doubtful that further age will benefit these wines. At an event with 15 people and 25 bottles, this was the one wine left unfinished. Enough said. (60 points)
Posted from CellarTracker
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Curious how many winemakers present? Or how many that had any formal winemaking education?
Cheers
Have you had a 2019 or 2020 Ultramarine? I wonder what your take on them would be.
There is no doubt they are faulty/flawed, but I don’t think anyone has been able to really identify what the fault is.