Wilson Creek Winery Vineyard Update

Cab Sauv Block 1 Influresence – The Calyptra has popped off exposing the pistil and stamen, grapes are self-pollinating, which means we are right at the beginning of flowering season.  We have injected 1000 gallons of crab meal, fish meal, etc as fertilizers to prepare for the growing season.  We will need some supplemental watering as we didn’t get as much precipitation as needed and the cover crop didn’t quite take off, which usually preserves our moisture in the ground.  From a temperature standpoint, it’s been pretty cool, which has been a good start so far.  The USDA, NRCS & Metropolitan Water District is asking to partner with us because we are seeing a lot of success with low irrigation and high heat in our vineyards.

Wilson Creek Winery – Sparkling Rose

This is a classic french style rose.  In France, most roses are from Provence, which is similar to Temecula and is primarily Chardonnay and Grenache, which is almost identical to how we have blended this wine.  We added a touch of French Columbarde to the wine and overall we have created a very nice dry sparkling rose.  Some wines are great for drinking in an environment, like a sunset and some are great for food.  This wine is one of those great ones that is perfect for both.

Right off the nose the aromatics of this wine really bounce out of the glass with a floral bouquet and the hints of strawberry from the Grenache, which is indicative of the way we make this wine.  We use a base Chardonnay that is pressed, which is a beautiful grape for Temecula.  We then infuse Grenache grapes that we have left the skin on and press that in, which is what gives us the wonderful taste and color.  This is very similar to our Brut in that it is a traditional dry French-style wine.  The subtle hint of fruit and aromatics on this makes it a great wine to introduce people who normally don’t like dry wines and they will love it.  This will pair well with a fruit salad: honeydew melons, strawberries, cantaloupe, etc.

Wilson Creek Winery – 2019 Viognier

A Rhone Varietal that is grown in the north of rhone.  In Temecula, it truly matures, very floral with a hint of white flowers and fruit-driven with subtle tastes of apricot, pitted fruit, peach, honeydew melon with a great balance.  This would pair well with seafood and food with spice to it, it neutralizes and works well with Capsaicin. As a varietal, it doesn’t have high tannins because we harvest it sooner.  

Viognier is tough to get to maturity, but when it’s ripe it’s beautiful.  The Viognier is the last of our whites that we harvest because it does take so much to get it to maturity.  This year’s Viognier is really a perfect balance of the past few years in terms of dry and sweet.  It pairs really well with sweet peppers, paprika, and mustard flavoring. This is not good to pair with spicy food, because it does have a higher alcohol content.

Wine Fun Fact: In the Rhone Valley, there is an area called the Condrieu, which is the only appellation in France where you are able to produce 100% Viognier or Viognier blends.

How long would you store this: The reason to store a wine typically is to allow the tannins to break down and drive additional characteristics to the wine.  With grapes the longer it stays on the vine the more the skin (tannin) of the grape develops.  Since it does not develop particularly thick skins this is not a wine that we would suggest typically holding.  Max is 2 years.  It will develop a more “round” characteristic to it with a bit of storage.  Heat, Light, and Movement are the biggest factors that will age your wines faster and to the detriment of the wine.  Don’t put your wine above the Fridge!!!!  Underneath a staircase in a long deep dark closet is perfect.

Q – This wine tastes sweet, but you have described it as dry – why is that?  

A – The Residual Sugar on this is less than .05% – however, it does have a lot of fruit characteristics which make it appear sweet.

Wilson Creek Winery – 2019 Roussanne

A meaty and beefy, white wine. More dense ripe fruit, rich, melons, mandarin oranges, and even a hint of spice – cumin and coriander. If you like Chardonnay then this might make a nice transition into a different wine. Thials – Thick mouth feels – makes for interesting aging.  

It’s problematic and needs lots of attention.  We are typically ½ done with reds and then come back and get the Roussanne.  We actually spray down the Roussanne with catlinite clay in the vineyard to ensure that it can stand the 105-degree temperatures later in the growing season. 

Really wants to be paired with Food:  White Pepper or Indian Food – Not heat spicy, but more of an aromatic food.  Really treads the line of Palate Cleanser and Complimentary Wine to go well with a dish like an herbed chicken, black pepper in a white sauce.  

Wilson Creek Winery – Non-Vintage Ecclesia-Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Named after a group of greek politicians – that would get together and share knowledge and have a good time together.

  • Cab Sav – 51%
  • Petite Syrah- 19%
  • Malbec – 14% 
  • Tannat – 6%

It’s a beautiful mix of young and new fruit  It’s incredibly thoughtful, so we would recommend opening it up earlier than you plan on drinking it to allow it to breathe.

Blends are like groups of friends and cultures, the more the better and this wine is no different.  The non-vintage blend allows us to really have a wonderful mix of young and old fruit, which creates this very interesting variation of a wine that smells different than it tastes.  It’s incredibly thoughtful, so we would recommend opening it up earlier than you plan on drinking it to allow it to breathe.  Chocked full of dark fruit and earthy flavors: cooked strawberries, cherry, jam, tar, pencil shavings, with a bit of petrichor the smell after the rain. 

This is a wine that will need to open up a bit, decanting may even be a good idea for this.  At the very least try and open the bottle about 10-15 minutes before drinking.

Food Pairings: Beef Bourguignon, Mushroom Burgers, 

This is very comparable to Double Dog and at a lower price point. – Like Greg’s Perineese that he is training to bring sheep in the vineyard.

More about Tannat: Tannat is the last grape we harvest every summer and is historically grown in South West France in the Madiran AOC, which is very close to Bordeaux.  There are two very different types of Tannat grapes: Clones 1-4 are the old school blenders very bitter, very tannic, very colorful.  We have a few blocks of these currently.  Clones 5-8 is the new world style that is more likely to deliver a full varietal.  We just planted 5 blocks of this and in 5 years we will have something very special to look forward to.

Wine Club BBQ is in August – 3 day event!!