ob2s
Posts: 1689
Joined: 1/30/2007
From: SW Portland Ore
Status: offline
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ORIGINAL: annerk
Do they actually have a mailing list? I've bought from them before only because I was given a heads up on a deal by another CT User and I called and paid for it over the phone--it was picked up and shipped to me in a case of mixed bottles from here and there that the CT user had for me.
They sure do, but it is...all of things.. a story. Well done too. Send an email to howdy@storytellerwine.com to get on the list. Here is the last one.
Story Teller Wine Company
 I am frequently asked “what’s your favorite winery in Oregon?” Or, what’s you favorite winery in (fill in your own favorite region here)?” These are tough questions to answer so I usually come up with something pithy like “depends what day it is.” But when it comes to the state just north of Oregon, I may be closer to a real answer than for any other region on the planet. I have tasted a whole lot of wines made over the years by Bob Betz and I would feel pretty comfortable claiming that in my book, he’s the best winemaker in Washington. I know, I’m going to get all sort of emails from folks who have their own Washington favorite and I’m sure those wineries would make my Top Twenty list, but when it comes to finesse, balance, restrained oak, restrained alcohol and a certain “old world” style, the wines of Betz Family Winery are my favorites. Which is why I’m pretty pumped about this particular offering. Yes, Betz wines are in the elite group of Washington winemakers, standing comfortably shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Quilceda Creek, Leonetti and Cayuse. With Betz you have a brilliant winemaker who has access to the best fruit in Washington. So when you get a great vintage year like 2007, you just know you are going to get something very, very special from Bob Betz. According to Bob, “2007 is one of the great vintages ever in Washington. I’ve been in the industry about 35 years, and I believe that 2007 is in the top five vintages that I’ve seen. The purity and elegance of the fruit really make it a great vintage while it also has the structure to go the distance. It has a very attractive lift.” Bob Betz is one of the few winemakers who have earned the Master of Wine (MW) degree from London’s Institute of Masters of Wine. To give you an idea of what a feat that is, only about 260 people have passed the three-day exam since they first started awarding the MW degree in 1953! And Bob is not one for a lot of hyperbole and puffery. So when a man with Bob’s credentials and humble nature gets this excited about a set of wines, I sit up and take notice. And the same dedication and studiousness that carried him to one of the highest scores ever on the MW exams can also be found in every bottle of wine he makes, regardless of vintage year. 2007 Betz Family Winery Clos de Betz (44.00) The Clos de Betz is a truly stunning blend of 62% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Malbec, 5% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, with a majority of the fruit coming from from the highly acclaimed Red Mountain and Horse Heaven Hills vineyards. It’s riper and friendlier in its youth than the Pere de Famille but it definitely has its own sense of elegance. The aromas are enough to take you someplace else if you will close your eyes and surrender. There are notes of smoky, ripe blackberries that have been crushed by a wet river stone. Where do the aromatics of this wine take me? I almost hear music in my head while drinking wine. To me this is Dizzy Gillespie in his prime. It’s playful but you can tell there are some serious chops there. It’s all bebop and berets. When I smell this wine I think of Dizzy Gillespie pumping out “A Night in Tunisia” at NYC’s Town Hall on a sweaty June night in 1945. Yeah, Bob Betz is jazz to me. His wines are syncopation in winemaking. As soon as I think I’m getting in a predictable rut when it comes to drinking Pacific NW wines, along comes Bob Betz to knock me for a loop. The palate is just as pleasing with its flavors of cassis and black cherry gliding all around my glass. There are also enough bits of bittersweet dark chocolate, licorice, tar and mineral here to make this one very interesting wine. But don’t misread my note. This is not a mere explosion of fruit. No, that Petit Verdot and Malbec give the Clos de Betz some serious structure. I plan on putting some of this wine away to enjoy over the next decade. If I can keep my hands off of it. 2007 Betz Family Winery Pere de Famille (59.00) I frequently hear people ask why American winemakers insist on making wines that mimic Bordeaux, Burgundy, Piedmont and the like. I always think to myself, why did Japanese kids pick up baseball bats and try to mimic Hank Aaron? Why did a bunch of mop-haired British kids pick up guitars and try to emulate Chuck Berry and Little Richard? Baseball and rock and roll are uniquely American, after all. They were inspired, that’s why. And that inspiration led to aspiration, a desire to make something just as good, but with their own signature mark. So when people make snide comments about New World Bordeaux blends I just smile. And I keep drinking my Pere de Famille. The 2007 Pere de Famille is 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, and 7% Petit Verdot, mostly from the Red Mountain AVA with small amounts from Horse Heaven Hills and Yakima Valley. This wine is pure power and an amount of finesse that may take you a whole evening to fully appreciate. If the Clos de Betz is early Dizzy, the Pere de Famille is without a doubt the dark, brooding Miles Davis. This is Miles Davis live at the Blackhawk in San Francisco in 1961. When he rips through the beginning of “So What” you know this is a serious man. Check out a video of that performance and you’ll see that even the cats in his band look a bit concerned. Maybe it was just awe on their faces. Miles was at the top of his game then, just like Bob Betz is now. This is a dark, serious wine. It is all shark skin suits and sunglasses. You want to dismiss this wine because it’s not from the Left Bank of Bordeaux? Miles would say “well, you needn’t.” The Pere de Famille has heady, sophisticated aromas of tart blackberries, graphite, pipe smoke and a really cool whiff of violets. If you have a fight with your significant other, this is the wine you want to pour when making your peace. A few sniffs from a glass of Pere de Famille and I swear anything going on your day-to-day life just fades off into the sunset. Wine writer and Washington wine guru Paul Gregutt recently tasted these wines with Bob Betz and then wrote them up in his blog. Gregutt observed that, “those two wines have just been released, and they continue an unbroken string of excellence from Betz Family…Bigger, beefier, bolder and simply breathtaking is the Betz Family 2007 Pere de Famille Cabernet Sauvignon ($60). Included with the cab are smaller percentages of merlot and petit verdot. ‘They play supporting roles,’ Bob Betz explains, ‘contributing mineral and black olive hints.’ Sweet, pure fruit – black currants and black cherry and blackberry – is packed tight here, concentrated and polished, but needing hours to breathe open. Dense, dusty, complex, complicated, sophisticated beyond description – you quickly run out of descriptors. The mailing list is closed, and these wines are not likely to last in the marketplace very long, so act now if you want them.” The Close de Betz and the Pere de Famille both received scores ranging from 93 to 96 points from just about any major critic you would care to name. I mention this not because Bob’s wines need any additional hype, but because I want to let you know how quickly they will disappear. I am receiving 36 bottles TOTAL of these two wines. When you take into account Washington’s sales tax, the prices I am asking for these wines are three to six dollars less than what the winery asked of their mailing list members. I am fairly confident these are the lowest prices current available anywhere in the United States. But if you happen across a better price for either of these wines in a store near you, I will happily match it. If you enjoy Bordeaux blends, you really need to consider buying at least one bottle each of these wines just to check out the winemaking skills of Bob Betz. If you are a fan of Bob’s work and have purchased his wines in the past, well you need to consider making like Doug Flutie and going long on these 2007s as they are probably the best wines Bob has ever made.
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German Wine ? see GermanWines.us | water nourishes the body, wine nourishes the soul
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