(Rotie Cellars Northern Red) FP Closed REMINDER: We will be closed for pickups on Friday July 13 and Saturday July 14, returning to our normal hours July 19-21. ---- Hello friends. The first annual set of Washington wine reviews are out from Wine Advocate’s new Washington reviewer, William Kelley, and they have caused quite a stir. I have seen some claims on social media that Kelley obviously doesn’t care for Washington wine. That seems like a bridge too far for someone who gave 95pt-or-better reviews to a full 52 wines. What is clear is that his palate is quite different than that of his predecessor, Jeb Dunnuck. From a quick perusal of reviews, it seems that textural elegance, judicious use of oak, and overall sense of balance are of special importance to Kelley. Producers known for especially robust structural profiles (especially in the form of tannin) and/or a reliance on creamy, vanillin-flavored new oak are suffering dramatically in this transition. One winery that performed quite well in Kelley’s inaugural set of reviews was Rotie Cellars. We were already planning on a Rotie offer this fall, as I recently had two memorable visits with Sean Boyd in Walla Walla: one in his current production facility, where he showed me plans from acclaimed architect George Suyama for an ambitious new winery he’s building adjacent to his estate vineyard in the Rocks District; and another at the vineyard itself, called Rotie Rocks. This site is yet another data point in a growing body of evidence speaking to the unique beauty of the Rocks District, and it features prominently in one of the three wines we’re offering today. Please note: as you can see, the winery has already flipped vintages on all three of these wines: to 2017 for the Southern White and to 2016 for the Northern and Southern Reds. Sean has set aside a stash of today’s wines for us, but the hold is going to evaporate after we place our order. He has been inundated with distributor orders from around the country after the release of Kelley’s reviews, and we’re fortunate to have access at all. I need to send Sean orders by Thursday, so please try to make all requests by end of day Wednesday, and please understand these will all be one-and-done wines for us.This is a 94/6 Syrah/Viognier co-ferment (14.5% listed alc), with the Syrah portion coming entirely from Rotie’s 2010-planted estate vineyard, Rotie Rocks. Here is a good site containing a description, exact location, and plenty of pictures. This is a vineyard, and a wine, to monitor closely in years to come. For now it is one of the lowest-priced (perhaps *the* lowest-priced?) estate-grown single-vineyard Rocks Syrahs on the market, and it over-performs its tariff admirably. Wine Advocate: Copyrighted material withheld.
By Paul Zitarelli
(Rotie Cellars Northern Red) FP Closed REMINDER: We will be closed for pickups on Friday July 13 and Saturday July 14, returning to our normal hours July 19-21. ---- Hello friends. The first annual set of Washington wine reviews are out from Wine Advocate’s new Washington reviewer, William Kelley, and they have caused quite a stir. I have seen some claims on social media that Kelley obviously doesn’t care for Washington wine. That seems like a bridge too far for someone who gave 95pt-or-better reviews to a full 52 wines. What is clear is that his palate is quite different than that of his predecessor, Jeb Dunnuck. From a quick perusal of reviews, it seems that textural elegance, judicious use of oak, and overall sense of balance are of special importance to Kelley. Producers known for especially robust structural profiles (especially in the form of tannin) and/or a reliance on creamy, vanillin-flavored new oak are suffering dramatically in this transition. One winery that performed quite well in Kelley’s inaugural set of reviews was Rotie Cellars. We were already planning on a Rotie offer this fall, as I recently had two memorable visits with Sean Boyd in Walla Walla: one in his current production facility, where he showed me plans from acclaimed architect George Suyama for an ambitious new winery he’s building adjacent to his estate vineyard in the Rocks District; and another at the vineyard itself, called Rotie Rocks. This site is yet another data point in a growing body of evidence speaking to the unique beauty of the Rocks District, and it features prominently in one of the three wines we’re offering today. Please note: as you can see, the winery has already flipped vintages on all three of these wines: to 2017 for the Southern White and to 2016 for the Northern and Southern Reds. Sean has set aside a stash of today’s wines for us, but the hold is going to evaporate after we place our order. He has been inundated with distributor orders from around the country after the release of Kelley’s reviews, and we’re fortunate to have access at all. I need to send Sean orders by Thursday, so please try to make all requests by end of day Wednesday, and please understand these will all be one-and-done wines for us.This is a 94/6 Syrah/Viognier co-ferment (14.5% listed alc), with the Syrah portion coming entirely from Rotie’s 2010-planted estate vineyard, Rotie Rocks. Here is a good site containing a description, exact location, and plenty of pictures. This is a vineyard, and a wine, to monitor closely in years to come. For now it is one of the lowest-priced (perhaps *the* lowest-priced?) estate-grown single-vineyard Rocks Syrahs on the market, and it over-performs its tariff admirably. Wine Advocate: Copyrighted material withheld.Full Pull Rotie (+FP Closed REMINDER), 7/8/2018, (See more on Full Pull...)