Placeholder Image
SommSelect

Terra Valentine, Library Release, Wurtele Vineyard

Other, United States 2004 (750mL)
$75.00
/
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Your cart is empty.
  • In stock, ready to ship
  • Inventory on the way
Fruit
Earth
Body
Tannin
Acid
Alcohol
SommSelect

Terra Valentine, Library Release, Wurtele Vineyard


Todays, 2004 Terra Valentine Cabernet Sauvignon from Spring Mountain’s Wurtele Vineyard falls into the latter end of the spectrum. I recently tasted through a vertical of their wines from 2003 to 2008. The 2004 was remarkable and it was something I just had to share. Terra Valentine is one producer in the Napa Valley that I have always loved thanks to the classic, old world charm of their wines. The Wurtele Vineyard delivers a magnificent sense of place that is incredibly reminiscent of the old world. To put it simply, in a blind tasting I might call this wine aged Left Bank Bordeaux from a top producer.
 
The Napa Valley, designated an official appellation in 1981, is now home to 16 sub-AVAs (American Viticultural Area) thanks to the various soils, elevations and climates found in the valley. Although the AVAs in the flats of Napa boast famous names that are widely visited and consumed on the regular, high elevation appellations, like the Spring Mountain District, and the vineyards within them can offer unique hidden treasures, with more floral notes, earth and structure, that cannot be paralleled on the well-known valley floor. If you were to traverse the tiny road up Spring Mountain, comprised of tight, hairpin turns, you would come to rest at Wurtele Vineyard, which rests amidst surrounding forest land. From its apex, the view of the Napa Valley is breathtaking, with the charming town of St. Helena on your right and Calistoga to your left, it is a site that should not be missed. The 30-acre Wurtele Vineyard, which is perched atop the Mayacamas Range in Spring Mountain District, rises to 1000 feet in elevation. The vineyard is planted to one clone of Cabernet Sauvignon but enjoys a large variation in soil, including volcanic and sedimentary rock, and experiences sunny days with cool nights. 
 
Terra Valentine was actually started by the Wurteles, who still own and farm the Wurtele Vineyard in partnership with Terra Valentine. It was the Wurteles who brought in Phil Baxter as the winemaker for their project. Phil’s son, Sam, was reared in the vines and inevitably went off to UC Davis to study fermentation science. He returned to Terra Valentine after receiving his education and gaining some hands-on experience elsewhere. Sam became the winemaker in 2002 and recently purchased the winery from the Wurteles in 2014. Sam crafts his Cabernet Sauvignon in as traditional a way as possible. All the grapes are hand-harvested and hand-sorted; 50% of the grapes are fermented in whole clusters. After a cool, gentle fermentation, with regular punch-downs, the free run juice is aged in 45% new French Oak barrels for twenty months before it is bottled without fining or filtration.
 
For those of you who have been drinking Napa Valley wines since the seventies and have watched it evolved, this wine will satisfy that yearning for the good old days of classic Cabernet. This wine has a concentrated dark ruby core, which quickly moves to orange and garnet reflections on the rim, typical of a decade-old Cabernet. The elegant and perfumed nose is driven by a layer of violets, fresh tobacco, pencil lead and cedar over black plums, blackberries, dried black currants, and dried wild berries laced with licorice, a touch of cocoa powder and crushed gravel. The incredibly classic palate is round and perfectly balanced, with velvet-like tannins, it shows a bit more fruit than the nose with additional fresh wild berries and blackcurrant liqueur, intertwined with wild herbs, green tobacco leaf, dried violets, crushed stones and light baking spices. Ideally decant this red for 30-45 minutes, then serve at cellar temperature and watch as this wine comes to life before your eyes as the temperature slowly rises over the next hour. Although it is beginning to peak now, this wine is made in such way that it will retain balance and aromatic perfection for at least another 5-10 years. For a pairing worthy of this beauty, try this Veal Chop.
Placeholder Image
Country
United States
Region
Other
Sub-Region
United StatesSpring Mountain District
Soil
Volcanic Soil and Sedimentary Rock
Farming
Sustainable
Blend
Cabernet Sauvignon
Alcohol
14.5
OAK
45% New French

United States

Washington

Columbia Valley

Like many Washington wines, the “Columbia Valley” indication only tells part of the story: Columbia Valley covers a huge swath of Central
Washington, within which are a wide array of smaller AVAs (appellations).

Oregon

Willamette Valley

Oregon’s Willamette Valley has become an elite winegrowing zone in record time. Pioneering vintner David Lett, of The Eyrie Vineyard, planted the first Pinot Noir in the region in 1965, soon to be followed by a cadre of forward-thinking growers who (correctly) saw their wines as America’s answer to French
Burgundies. Today, the Willamette
Valley is indeed compared favorably to Burgundy, Pinot Noir’s spiritual home. And while Pinot Noir accounts for 64% of Oregon’s vineyard plantings, there are cool-climate whites that must not be missed.

California

Santa Barbara

Among the unique features of Santa Barbara County appellations like Ballard Canyon (a sub-zone of the Santa Ynez Valley AVA), is that it has a cool, Pacific-influenced climate juxtaposed with the intense luminosity of a southerly
latitude (the 34th parallel). Ballard Canyon has a more north-south orientation compared to most Santa Barbara AVAs, with soils of sandy
clay/loam and limestone.

California

Paso Robles

Situated at an elevation of 1,600 feet, it is rooted in soils of sandy loam and falls within the Highlands District of the Paso Robles AVA.

New York

North Fork

Wine growers and producers on Long Island’s North Fork have traditionally compared their terroir to that of Bordeaux and have focused on French varieties such as Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

Others We Love