Is anyone drinking the sparkling wines from Tirriddis? I had the opportunity to taste (as opposed to drink) and thought they were excellent for the money. I don’t always trust my tasting palate, however. I usually need to sit with a bottle for a while to pass appropriate judgment. Curious to here some opinions on the wines.
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Haven’t tried them, will keep an eye out. Did they tell you how long they have been on lees before disgorgement? I obviously have a preference for Treveri in WA.
If you want a sneaky good sparkling try Townshend Cellars. The current was put down in 2011, I believe, and they started sparking when Don bought Mountain Dome.
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The entry level cuvee, which was my favorite, only sees 12 months. I suspect the rest of the range is aged longer. I don’t recall any of them being especially autolytic, but again, I just had a few one ounce pours.
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I bought one of each of their new releases to try them out. My brother is in Grandview, WA so he stopped by to grab them for me, but I’ve not yet opened any. I’m really excited about another WA sparkling wine venture.
I recently had a bottle of the 2020 Tirriddis Blanc de Blanc Stonemark Vineyard and really liked it. The fruit was pure and it had a nice medium weight and balanced acid. Definitely the best sparkling wine I’ve had from WA state, although that is a very short list for me and have not tried anything other than Treveri recently. At $50, I think I might pick a comparably priced champagne instead, but it was still very enjoyable.
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I just got an offer for their Sauvignon Blanc two weeks ago and it was over $300!!!
I did some research, I believe this is being made at Zirkle, and most may only see up to 12 months on lees or bottle age.
If I see some I may try it, Zirkle has some good fruit sources, bit is far from a sparkling producer, albeit doing a lot of contract and PL winemaking and bottling.
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Wines I picked up from Ocelli Cellars during BD14 tried over the last week. These wines got me thinking more about WA state grenache that I’ll be posting on separately soon. I haven’t tried Ocelli before but you can count me an admirer now.
2019 Ocelli Cellars grenache, Columbia Vly AVA
Light medium color. Violet, lilac, grains with strawberry/raspberry on nose and palate. A little closed first then opened up more, more substantial on palate, in fact while medium bodied it feels like there’s more concentration on the palate, some reduction, very good backbone/structure like grenache should. Next day it had opened up more giving up a wee bit more fruit and softness. But this was quite restrained in the fruit department which may put it at a disadvantage with some consumers. Overall, better than I expected at this price point, a very good representation of the variety that gives hints there might be more to come. 3 (out of 5), a good representation.
2019 Ocelli Cellars grenache, French Creek Vyd Block 11, Columbia Vly AVA
Similar appearance and initial impression to the CV bottling but showing a little more depth of fruit. Light medium color and extract, elegant, pepper, cranberry, in addition to raspberry/strawberry. Plenty of structure. A longer and more interesting finish with some flavors reminiscent of CdP-like kirsch but make no doubt this is a medium bodied and moderately extracted wine. On day two it had opened up significantly more and gave up a little more pleasure. A little more giving than the CV bottling but not by a huge margin. 3+ (out of 5), very good showing.
2019 Ocelli Cellars grenache, French Creek Vyd Block 20, Columbia Vly AVA
A little darker than the previous wines, more medium in color. A complex nose that unfurled over time. Got hints of cinnamon in this one along with bay leaf, more savory/herbal is even more interesting. Traces of reduction. Love the fruit on this one, not much strawberry but more cherry and raspberry but it’s still relatively restrained. It really blossomed on day 2 showing more fruit and an overall bigger impression. If time on air predicts aging potential then this should get better with at least a few more years. 4- (out of 5), excellent.
2012 Ocelli Cellars grenache, Columbia Vly AVA
Wow. Medium color. Nose and palate on this are very generous from the get go. Lovely floral bouquet, medium body, more depth than the others cuvees with some southern Rhone rich kirsch /cherry, dustiness, and a gorgeous and satisfying finish. Love this wine. With extended air it gained deeper bass notes adding cocoa and leather. Not sure what this was like young, I’d love to know, but my what some age has done for this. While I don’t know if it will get better it shows no signs of going over the hill as it’s still got some grenache-style tannic clench lurking. It’s no stretch to say I enjoyed this as much as some of the best grenache bottlings out of WA… 4 (out of 5) easy, outstanding.
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Thanks for the great notes Steve, glad you enjoyed the wines!
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Opened a bottle of 2018 Quilceda Creek Columbia valley for our five year anniversary. Drank over three days and really enjoyed it day three.
Day 1 had a ton of dark fruit and oak on the nose. Bit of graphite as well. Palate showed blueberry and plum and a touch of vanilla. Well balanced by the fine tannins and acid which held up over the three days.
Day 2 was actually a step back. A lot of chocolate and dark fruit and not much else. Both my wife and I didn’t like it as much.
Day 3 was great though. Strong herbal (bay leaf?) and savory characteristics came out. Fruit was still present. Oak was better integrated. It was a bit hot all three days but better balanced by day three. Length was a minute plus.
Overall I’m pleased with the wine. I have five more bottles for future anniversary celebrations which I bought a couple years ago. My preferences have changed since then so I would have been pretty upset if I ended up disliking it now. Day 3 performance has me hopeful that it should be good for decades to come. Would love to know other peoples experience with old vintages of the wine.
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You have a nice touch with the “pinot noir of Washington” aka grenache. Keep up the great work!
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There was a style change in 1998 that really took root in 2001/2002/2003 of bigger is better. 80s and 90s were very balanced and aged well.
In cooler years I think the wine does very well.
With the 3 day review thought this might be JGs burner account.
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Thanks for the info. I’ll keep an eye out for older/cooler vintages.
I tend to drink wines over multiple days during the week mostly to limit how much I’m drinking. Usually two days but I’ve had enough positive experiences like this one that I like to take the risk sometimes.
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1984, 86, 89, 90, 92, 94, 95, 96 are all very good. Haven’t had 80s in 6 or 7 years so may be declining at this point, be wary.
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Nice to see a mention of Mr. Glas above, Kris. I think we bullied him off, though. I kind of wish he would still post and grow thicker skin. He loved the wines in the line that I just drank, that’s for sure, and I can’t disagree that these Result of a Crush are tremendous for the buck:
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2015 Result of a Crush Christmas Cuvée - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley (4/26/2023)
Given to me by a client as a gift, I didn't hold this long. After drinking it and reading Jeb's TN from 2018 in which he recommended drinking this over the next 2-3 years, he's probably right if not a bit short. This was excellent, and for whatever she paid, poses a seriously strong QPR. The aromas were plum but a strong kalamata olive note. Juicy and balanced, no tanning, good acid with olives, spiced plum, coffee, and cherry flavors. The mid-palate was a little hollow, so drink now or in the near term. Great stuff.
Posted from CellarTracker
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Post that 3 more times and I will believe you 
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I was curious about where JG went off to. See his notes ongoing at CT. Kind of wondered whether he was banished from here? If not, I agree needs to be able to take as gives… Have to agree would not have ordered a couple cases of Result of Crush if not for him. Really enjoy these wines for the price (and unbelievable shipping costs)!!
Dug up a 1998 CSM Cold Creek Merlot. Cold Creek is really one of the best plots of dirt in WA, makes world class Cab, Merlot, Riesling, and Chardonnay that was planted in 1972, over 50 years ago.
1998 was a warm year in WA and often gets lumped in with Napa which had a mediocre year. Wine still has great structure, nose of plum and black cherry, with baking spice. Palate is still tannic, with berries and spice. Excellent wine from excellent dirt.
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Had the 2014 No Girls grenache with grilled tenderloin on Mother’s Day. It’s drinking beautifully now and a very impressive grenache. Just loaded with character in both varietal and terroir character while being balanced and intense without anything over done. Tanzer’s review in Vinous from 2017 was a good preview of how this wine turned out. Definitely worth sampling now if you have one or more. 4+ (out of 5).
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Catching up on this thread… Good notes and interesting wines. @Brandon_R your haul from your Dad looks a lot like my cellar a few years ago; I’ve weened off Fidelitas but the others still show up in my drink list every once in a while.
Had two bottles of Block Wines Marchant Vineyard Blanc de Noirs D2022 for Mother’s Day on Saturday with family. Really nice, very dry, single vineyard sparkler made from Pinot. Made by Treveri for Full Pull. This is an annual buy for me and I always wish I had bought more. Only four left this year after drinking these two,