New California Sparkling project from Weston Eidson, Russell Bevan, and Nathan Reeves.
Website is live for allocation signups (https://www.westbornwine.com/)
Thanks for this!
Anybody had the opportunity to try these yet? Definitely sounds interestingā¦depending on the price-point of course.
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Dropping a podcast link I found.
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Iām thrilled about this project. Iāve known Weston Eidson for many years and have had the privilege of watching this project grow from the start. Westborn has been a labor of love for six years for Russell, Weston and Nate, with their inaugural vintage being 2018 (even though they will release 2019 first). Westbornās mission to elevate California sparkling wines is absolutely something to follow.
What makes Westborn stand out from other California sparkling wine projects is their focus on sourcing grapes from several top-tier āgrand cruā vineyards. Theyāre bringing together Chardonnay from Hudson, Hyde, Ritchie, Charles Heintz, and others, as well as Pinot Noir from Hirsch, Silver Eagle, Gapās Crown, and Ferrington, as well as including the rare to find in California, Pinot MeuniĆØr. Theyāre also putting a big emphasis on their reserve wine program, which will debut with a perpetual reserve cuvĆ©e in the first release.
Iāve been able to taste the wines as components (all the different vineyards as still wines), try the wines in bottle over the last few years and recently try three of the cuvĆ©es just last week shortly after disgorgement. If Westborn is aiming for a signature trait to make them standout, it is undoubtedly texture. These wines are incredibly balanced and layered with a texture in California sparkling wine Iāve not come across before. Of the ones Iāve tasted (2019 Brut, 2019 RosĆ©, NV Perpetual Reserve), they are distinctly grower champagne in style.
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Looks interesting and expensive.
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Thatās my biggest concern for sure. I hear Bevan and talks of reserve CuvĆ©e and i start seeing dollar signs, ha!
@Shay_A , really appreciate all the details and the wines sound excellent! Any rough idea of a pricing range for these?
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Given that Ultramarine, which also sources from Heintz, trades in the low $100 range on resale, my bet is that this will be higher, given the winemakers and the grape sources.
Iāll bet $129/750mL.
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Iām not sure of official pricing yet, but I do know there will be tiered pricing across the four cuvĆ©es (with the NV perpetual reserve on one end and the rosĆ© on the other).
Iāll be tasting through three of the cuvĆ©es again soon and will be curious to see what change (if any) has taken place since my first experience right after disgorgement, but Iāll give brief first impressions below for those who are curious of style. All are in the āextra brutā category regarding dosage (which feels perfectly dialed in):
-Perpetual Reserve is the one that stands out the most for texture; lots of layers here showing spiced fruits and the perpetual reserve type profile; after time open, it reminded me of Bereche and Egly-Ourietās styles
-2019 Brut is bright, laser focused with serious purity of fruit. It also really opens up after it has time to breathe in the glass; powerful; initially Ruppert-Leroy like before being reminiscent of some of the Gimonnet champagnes. The Chardonnay in the blend, mainly from Ritchie, Durell and Charles Heintz vineyards, really shines through
-2019 RosĆ© initially reminded me of Billecartās rosĆ© with a strawberry and rose-like elegance; I was able to try the second half of the bottle the following day and it bulked up in weight and sported bigger red fruits closer to something like a Paul Bara rosĆ©
Iām a bubbles nerd, so naturally I love looking for comparisons. Iām looking forward to trying it again and will be happy to report more.
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Very interesting. Iām a big fan of Ultramarine when itās on, but have had a couple of duds lately (and no response from the winery), so it might be about time to jump ship to another CA producer.
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This is delusional pricing IMO. Excellent bubbly from CA and elsewhere can be had for a fraction of that.
To be clear, I was guessing 
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Can you explain what you mean with the term ādudsā? Oxidized? Lacking bubbles?
Cheers
So . . .
Really high pricing on sparkling is delusional but itās not delusional on other varieties? 
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One tasted like sparkling asparagus juice and another seemed kind of like a wine/beer hybrid, which wasnāt bad, but not what Iām looking for when I open $90 or whatever bottle of wine. Iāve loved most Ultramarine wine Iāve had, but those two didnt have the quality I expect from that producer or price range.
Did you have multiple bottles of the same wine/same vintage? Curious if so and if there were big differ differences.
And they have not responded to your concerns?
Cheers
Ive only opened one bottle of each of the duds. I only emailed after the asparagus wine and received no response.
Iāve had several of these ādudsā as well, more so in recent vintages in ā18/ā19. though I had a single ā17 Keefer ranch that had a mothball quality, which I hadnāt experienced in other bottles irrespective of vintage. For the ā18s/ā19s Iāve had a lot of overly leafy qualities and some funk. I didnāt keep detailed notes, but most of the BdB and BdN have had issues for me. Not awful, but noticeable and different from earlier bottlings in a way I didnāt like.
Still a fan due to earlier experiences, but will likely drop off if this is something due to a style change.
Westborn winemaker Weston Eidson here. I am thrilled that many of you have heard of my new sparkling wine that is about to be released, Westborn, which Russell Bevan and I started with the 2018 vintage. Itās been a true labor of love (and plenty of patience!).
If you happen to be in Napa, or would like an excuse to be, I invite you to the Westborn Grower Appreciation & Inaugural Wine Release Party.
Where: Brasswood Main Gallery Event Space
3111 Saint Helena Hwy N, St. Helena, CA 94574
When: Saturday, November 9, 11:00 am to 2:00 pm
Weāre planning a fun afternoon featuring wine, fresh mozzarella, pizza, and one of my favorite pairingsābubbles and fried chicken.
Youāll also get the chance to taste the wine and meet many of the incredible growers who helped make this project a reality. Plus, Russell, Nate, and I will be there to share stories and chat about everything weāve been working on over the past seven years.
Hereās a link to our website below. If youād like to attend, please enter your name and email in the Acquire page and include āWine Berserkersā in the comments or feel free to send me a DM. Iāll make sure to add you to the guest list.
Thank you and I look forward to raising a glass with you!
Cheers,
Weston
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Good to see you on here, Weston! Very excited for the wines. Iāll be there.
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How cool and refreshingly un-stuffy. Sounds like you can leave your helicopter back on the . . . home helipad and drive the old pickup over there.
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