Wine Article
2010 Maison Bleue Gravière Upland Vineyard
Last edited on 11/20/2012 by ob2s
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Full Pull:
Well, I have had the Sauron-style lidless eye of Full Pull trained on the Yakima Valley for months now, awaiting word of this wine’s imminent transit. My network of spies is vast and talented, and reliable sources tell me that, sometime in the next few weeks, a truck is going to summit Snoqualmie Pass with a pallet or two of Jon Martinez’s finest juice (let me pause here and say a special thank-you to one reliable source who knows who he is, on behalf of all our Maison Bleue-loving list members). Rather than waiting and confirming Graviere’s actual appearance, I’m sending this out pre-arrival style: a gamble, to be sure, but an educated gamble.
The great eye first turned towards Graviere in March. That’s when Paul Gregutt said the following on his blog: “[REVIEW TEXT WITHHELD].”
Then, in May, Sean Sullivan weighed in on Washington Wine Report: “I[REVIEW TEXT WITHHELD]. Rating: ***** (Exceptional).”
And then recently, within a few weeks of one another, Jeb Dunnuck of The Rhone Report and Paul Gregutt in Wine Enthusiast published reviews of Graviere, in both cases the highest scores earned by Maison Bleue to date in those publications:
The Rhone Report (Jeb Dunnuck): “[REVIEW TEXT WITHHELD]. 95pts.”
Wine Enthusiast (Paul Gregutt): “[REVIEW TEXT WITHHELD]. Cellar Selection. 96pts.”
Among PaulG’s strongest reviews of 2012 so far, this will almost certainly earn a top ten spot on Gregutt’s year-end Top 100 list and stands a good chance at landing on one of Wine Enthusiast’s year-end lists as well.
Fortunately, when I had the chance to taste this recently, it was double-blind, because I suspect that served naked (the wine, not me), I would have been impacted either by confirmation bias (“it’s as good as everyone says it is!”) or emperor-has-no-clothes bias (“what’s all the fuss about?”). As it happened, this wine was a standout in the flight, an absolute stunner. I won’t add much to all the review verbiage above, only to say that Jon has found something special with this Upland Vineyard fruit, and there is an undeniably wild character to the fruits and savories that is deeply, deeply compelling.
Well, I have had the Sauron-style lidless eye of Full Pull trained on the Yakima Valley for months now, awaiting word of this wine’s imminent transit. My network of spies is vast and talented, and reliable sources tell me that, sometime in the next few weeks, a truck is going to summit Snoqualmie Pass with a pallet or two of Jon Martinez’s finest juice (let me pause here and say a special thank-you to one reliable source who knows who he is, on behalf of all our Maison Bleue-loving list members). Rather than waiting and confirming Graviere’s actual appearance, I’m sending this out pre-arrival style: a gamble, to be sure, but an educated gamble.
The great eye first turned towards Graviere in March. That’s when Paul Gregutt said the following on his blog: “[REVIEW TEXT WITHHELD].”
Then, in May, Sean Sullivan weighed in on Washington Wine Report: “I[REVIEW TEXT WITHHELD]. Rating: ***** (Exceptional).”
And then recently, within a few weeks of one another, Jeb Dunnuck of The Rhone Report and Paul Gregutt in Wine Enthusiast published reviews of Graviere, in both cases the highest scores earned by Maison Bleue to date in those publications:
The Rhone Report (Jeb Dunnuck): “[REVIEW TEXT WITHHELD]. 95pts.”
Wine Enthusiast (Paul Gregutt): “[REVIEW TEXT WITHHELD]. Cellar Selection. 96pts.”
Among PaulG’s strongest reviews of 2012 so far, this will almost certainly earn a top ten spot on Gregutt’s year-end Top 100 list and stands a good chance at landing on one of Wine Enthusiast’s year-end lists as well.
Fortunately, when I had the chance to taste this recently, it was double-blind, because I suspect that served naked (the wine, not me), I would have been impacted either by confirmation bias (“it’s as good as everyone says it is!”) or emperor-has-no-clothes bias (“what’s all the fuss about?”). As it happened, this wine was a standout in the flight, an absolute stunner. I won’t add much to all the review verbiage above, only to say that Jon has found something special with this Upland Vineyard fruit, and there is an undeniably wild character to the fruits and savories that is deeply, deeply compelling.
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