Time of the year for my favorite pinots to be released!! My order is already in.
A copy of the newsletter:
Fall 2015
Dear Friends
We hope this newsletter finds you and your families happy and well.
It is mid August so we hope that you have been enjoying summer and some vacation time with your loved ones. This is our favorite time of year. At this time of year we have just completed the bottling of the barreled wines. It is an exciting and serious time when the vintage is sealed with a cork. It is exciting to see the hard work over the course of the year in its finished form, but it is a process taken seriously as once the cork is placed into the bottle there is no turning back time. All of the decisions made for each vintage live on until the last bottle is enjoyed. We would like to thank everyone who has shared great stories about opening a bottle of WesMar that has stood up beautifully to ten or more years of aging. It is always a proud moment for us. We also love this time of year when we make the transition to harvest as we prepare for the big event. A new crop of grapes has been cared for by the growers over the course of the year and now it is our turn to monitor their progress, as it is our responsibility to make the critical decision as to when the grapes will be harvested. Not only a very serious decision, but the most defining decision we make for the vintage. This decision lives within the bottle of wine, as it bares a major impact on the style of wine and its longevity. Once the adrenaline of harvest has passed and all of the barrels are full of the new vintage, we sit back with satisfaction and take stock of it all. We take the opportunity to enjoy the vineyard canopies turning from deep green to yellows and reds as they begin to defoliate and transition into winter dormancy. As our favorite time of year comes to a close we will savor it with a glass of wine, or two.
Vineyard Update
WesMar’s estate vines have been happily growing this season after being grafted in early June to our two clonal selections Martini and Pommard. The grafting process (joining the bud with the rootstock) was successful, with a high percentage of new bud growth. We have been tending to the little baby vines with special attention to the ever present and destructive gopher population. Vine training (attachment to the vine stake) and timely irrigation throughout the remainder of the growing season will properly prepare us for next years growth cycle leading into the following years inaugural crop.
2013 Vintage Retrospect
Following the huge 2012 harvest many in the industry thought Mother Nature would reduce her work load with a much smaller 2013 harvest. Although not quite as large as the 2012, it was still quite ample. During the 2013 growing season our daily morning fog lifted early and the days remained modestly warm offering ideal growing conditions. These conditions lead to an early and fast harvest resulting in many different varietals from various growing regions being harvested simultaneously.
The 2013 vintage is marked by feminine and extremely pretty fruit flavors. The fruit strength although less weighty than other vintages, is long lasting in the mouth and long finishing on the palate. Fruit strength and tannin structure share the stage equally, with subtle oak impressions in support. With the 2013 vintage, we offer you three vineyard designated Pinot Noirs in company with four appellation Pinot Noirs.
TASTING NOTES
As tasted August of 2015. These wines were bottled unfined and unfiltered
2013 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Salzgeber Vineyard
The Salzgeber Vineyard has continued to mature over the years. The overt tannin structure and more course fruit flavors that existed in earlier years have changed to offer a wine that is now lead by softer pretty fruit with supportive background fruit tannins. The Salzgeber has aromas of dark red fruits leading into the usual flavors of red and black cherries, cocoa, cola and sandalwood. (128 cases).
2013 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Balletto Vineyard
Even though we have worked with this vineyard and these particular rows for over ten years now, we are still amazed that the vineyard characteristics differ year in and year out. The white pepper that has been present in recent vintages has been replaced this year by a subtle blend of baking spices. Aromas of berries and spice. Flavors of palate quenching black plums, blueberries with a touch of anise. This wine has a great mouth feel and long lasting flavors. (148 cases)
2013 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Oehlman Vineyard
The Oehlman Vineyard has always vacillated between a lighter cran-raspberry profile and a more robust bright red cherry profile depending on the vintage and brix at picking. This year is more like the latter. The first impression is a jubilee of red fruit aromas and citrus. These alluring aromatics entice you to linger here before moving onto a taste. On the palate are sweet red cherries, dried cranberries, citrus rind and dark tea. This weighty experience of rich and bright red fruits is more Californian than some of the Burgundian like examples from the Oehlman wines of the past. (172 cases).
2013 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
A wonderful marriage or ménage a trios as it is between Oehlman on the entry, Balletto in the mid palate and framed by Salzgeber’s structure in the finish. Although Kirk almost always prefers the Sonoma Coast bottling to the Russian River Valley bottling, this vintage has caused him to take pause. This delightfully rich glass of Pinot Noir is unabashedly Russian River Valley with its complex flavors of red fruits that span the spectrum, finishing with a note of cinnamon and a touch of oak. (186 cases)
2013 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast
After flirtatious thoughts that the Russian River Valley blend this year might be my favorite, I (Kirk) can once again pledge my allegiance to this Sonoma Coast bottling. There is just something special about how Hellenthal and Balletto Vineyards cohere. This year the Hellenthal fruit offers a little more structure to compliment the more revealing fruit side from the Balletto. The palate entry is a blast of dark berries and cocoa that leads to lively red berries mid palate and finishes with a long brisk viscosity. (141 cases)
2013 Pinot Noir, Fort Ross-Seaview
This bottling from the relatively new sub-appellation of Sonoma Coast will still be familiar to you. Like in 2006, we declassified this 100% Hellenthal Vineyard to note its departure from a typical Hellenthal profile. This 13% alcohol bottling offers sweet red raspberries, lively acidity while being structured but feminine. Due to its lighter profile, we expected the flavors to taper after tasting from the same bottle over four days. We were pleasantly surprised by its staying power. Like the 2006, the 2013 may take longer to come around, but will offer the rewards in the end. (148 cases)
2013 Pinot Noir, Sonoma County
The 2013 Sonoma County bottling is from a single vineyard source off of Westside Road in Healdsburg. This approachable full bodied wine has aromas of strawberry jam and cinnamon while the palate shows sweet ripe strawberries, dried cherries with complementary acidity and structure. Some of you will find this bold and rich Pinot Noir to be your favorite. (87 cases)
Chardonnay
In our early years after producing small lots of Chardonnay and a dalliance with Zinfandel, we found that our devotion was to Pinot Noir. Several years ago those who had cellared their WesMar Chardonnay reported that we should produce it once again, due to its ageability. We were not yet convinced we should reintroduce Chardonnay, but when we received a special request from one customer for a two barrel order we could not refuse. In 2012 we were able to source the same fruit and Chardonnay made its return to WesMar. After fulfilling the two barrel order we had a few cases remaining. A sip here, a sip there and we found we were really enjoying the Chardonnay like never before. The 2013 Chardonnay is already spoken for, but we look forward to introducing you to the 2014 next fall.
WesMar from your Perspective
Greetings from Tennessee. I hope that you had a great Thanksgiving holiday. We had a delightful holiday dinner enhanced with your wine. It has become a tradition for me to provide the wine for our group of friends and this year was no exception. This is the seventh year now that I have served your wine for Thanksgiving and it never disappoints. We had a bottle of the 2007 Balletto and the 2008 Salzgeber. They both were wonderful and received rave reviews from my guests. It’s nice to have such good wine that I can count on being excellent every time, especially when having guests over. Thank you for helping to make our Thanksgiving celebration memorable.
Bill
Zoey the Great Dane/Italian Mastiff
After far too few years together, we lost our beloved Zoey. She will be missed terribly. She always protected the winery by barking ferociously the first minute a guest arrived and licking the suspecting wine taster the second minute. Most of you who visited the winery with open toed shoes will remember that she had a foot licking fetish. Some of our male and female guests will recall that Zoey did not think that your personal space was off limits to her, including the poor woman who arrived in a mini skirt.
Our vineyard walks will never be the same without you Honey Bear.
Magnums (1.5 liters) and Jeroboams (3 liters released Fall of 2016)
The Good – Starting with the 2014 vintage offered next year, there will be more magnums available.
The Bad – This years 2013 vintage magnums are again very limited. Don’t wait to order.
The Grandiose – A very limited number of 2014 Jeroboams, in celebration of our 15th vintage, Fall 2016
Magnums are priced at double the 750ml price.
Ordering Notes
In appreciation of your patronage we are offering Free Ground Shipping for purchases of 24 bottles or more. Please remember all orders received after November 9th will ship out subject to appropriate weather.
To place your order please visit our website at http://www.wesmarwinery.com, or return the enclosed order form via mail, pdf file or fax to (707)829-8886. Please feel free to call with any questions or to place an order over the phone (707)829-8824. We will ship your wine on November 9th 2015.
You will receive an email prior to your shipment.
Pick up weekend is …….Oct. 24th and 25th. If you would like to pick up your wine, please mark pick up on your order form. Details and directions to follow.
A Visit to WesMar
It is always a pleasure to have the opportunity to visit with you at the winery. Last year we met many of you for the first time which was a special treat for us. Thank you for including us in your vacation plans, birthday and anniversary celebrations as we enjoy partaking in your special occasions. With some advance notice we will continue to do our best to make ourselves available to visit and share some wine together. Cheers!
We want to thank you for the opportunity to present our wines to you. We are very pleased with the 2012 vintage wines and know they will please your palate as well.
Sincerely, Kirk “Wesley” and Denise “Mary”