This is the sixth vintage of our entry level, St. Joseph-like, Syrah. It is made from fruit grown at a superb vineyard site that is planted in the hills just west of the Amador County line, just a few miles from the Mokelumne River (hence the California appellation). We find the wine is very forward and drinkable shortly after bottling, making it a great everyday Syrah and perfect as a restaurant glass pour. This 2004 vintage is exceedingly dark in color with rich, silky wild raspberry fruit flavors laced with pepper, tar, and herb tones. Aromas are raspberry, smoky, wild gamey, peppery, and cinnamon.

2002 Terre Rouge MourvÈdre, Sierra Foothills

Mourvèdre is always the last variety that we pick for our TERRE ROUGE label. Things were no different in the great vintage of 2002 when we brought our Mourvèdre into the winery on October 19th at 25.5° brix, .65 TA, and 3.8 pH. This is a rich full-bodied vintage that is spicy, powerful, and long on the palate. We use cellaring techniques that involve a long lees reduction to help to broaden and fill the middle palate with great textural sensations. The flavors are of blackberry, meaty, with an almost tomato-like Pommard quality. It is definitely gamey like Bandol, without the funkiness that Bandol, often, unfortunately offers. It is a fabulous partner for wild game, lamb, and wild salmon.

This is our flagship wine; the first wine we bottled under the TERRE ROUGE label. The name, Noir, means our black proprietary red wine that is reminiscent of the great wines of the Southern Rhône. The Grenache comes predominately from a 70 year-old site that we have sourced since 1985. This vineyard is planted in sandy, granitic soil. The Mourvèdre is from a south facing slope planted at 2,200 feet in the Fiddletown AVA. We bottle this same site as a mono-varietal as well. The Syrah is from one of our Shenandoah Valley vineyard sites. We bottle age this wine for two years, so when it is finally released, the wine is showing more than its primary fruit characteristics, but also some of its secondary spice aromas. This 2000 is extremely juicy and vibrant with characteristic Grenache plum and black cherry flavors, Mourvèdre’s smoky gaminess, and Syrah’s powerful punch and richness. Delicious and complex!

Tête-à-Tête is our fun easy drinking assemblage of Mediterranean varietals (in 2005 - its 56% Syrah, 28% Mourvèdre & 16% Grenache) We blend it with current drinkability in mind, for drinking both at home and as a restaurant pour. We generally put it together from our younger vines and our more forward tasting barrel lots. 2005 was a year where most of our Rhône varietal lots excelled. It was an earlier harvest pushed forward by a light crop level with intensely flavored fruit. Therefore this wine drinks like better than most Côtes-du-Rhône Villages bottlings: sappy, spicy, fabulous flavor, and great texture. It is an eminently enjoyable everyday bottle. The 2005 has a deep boysenberry fruit suggestions, smoky/meaty/gamey complex flavor components that emphasize our terroir, and a lengthy creamy texture. Aged for 16 months in François Frères barrels. This is a great California wine value !

Our only dessert wine was inspired by the delicious fresh fortified Muscats of southern France. This is Muscat that isn't overly sweet. It would be appropriate as an apéritif, but, mainly, we like it as an accompaniment to a desserts like a fresh berry clafoutis or a pear tart with ginger and almonds. Flowery, muscaty/honeyed bouquet with hints of coconut and lush fruity flavors. Try it by itself, for a memorable end to a great evening meal.

Harvested, ripe, at 27° brix and fortified to arrest fermentation with high-proof Muscat brandy made from the same vineyard site. Aged nine months in neutral French oak and bottled in the Suummer following harvest.

We began bottling Roussanne on an annual basis in 2001. This bottling originates from a newly established vineyard site between Auburn and Foresthill called the Monarch Mine Vineyard. it is planted with a clone of the Roussanne grape that originates from a Chave family parcel on the hill at Hermitage. This is a difficult variety to grow. It ripens unevenly, so it must be harvested selectively and not all at the same time. It is also susceptible to powdery mildew. The fruit in 2004 was fully ripe at harvest in mid-September. The resulting wine has classic Roussanne characteristics: Straw golden color; with exquisite quince, honeynut, and beeswax aromas. It has a very rich and silky mouth feel. A rare treat.
Only 400 cases were produced.

A great follow to our popular 2003 Viognier, our 2004 is a bit more floral and fruit oriented. Our Shenandoah Valley and Fiddletown Viognier grapes are planted in loamy, decomposed granite soil and cropped carefully. It has great body, richness, and mouth feel. There are also attractive apricot and peach flavors with a delicious texture and a slight stoniness in the finish. The pit (stone) fruit varieties thrive in our Rhône-like climate. We pick the fruit by flavor and physiological maturity. The grapes begin to get a brown speckled look when they approach maturity. This is the first year that our Viognier incorporates grapes from some of our exciting new sites in the Fiddletown appelation. This is our top bottling. Our Viognier is a favorite of some of France’s top boutique Condrieu producers. Whole-cluster pressed, barrel fermented in slightly used French oak barrels, extended lees aging, no racking, and full malolactic fermentation. Bottled in mid-June of 2005.

2006 Terre Rouge Enigma®, Sierra Foothills
(55% Marsanne, 28% Viognier & 17% Roussanne)

Enigma is made from fruit harvested from one vineyard site, Suma Kaw, planted in volcanic soil at the elevation of 3,000 feet. From this sweeping North slope we harvested the Viognier on October 4th, the Marsanne on October 18th and the Roussanne on October 31st in 2006. This high, cool elevation allows us to let the fruit hang for full flavor development while maintaining proper acidity. The vines grow on a vertical trellis with upward shoot and cane positioning for good fruit exposure to sunlight. The grapes are hand-picked into small bins and whole-cluster pressed. Fermentation takes place in older French oak barrels with a variety of yeasts. The wine is generally bottled 9-10 months later. Aromas suggest wildflower honey and acacia blossom with hints of tangerine and papaya. Flavors are creamy with peach, apple,and quince sensations competing for your taste buds. The finish is crisp with classic white Rhône stone(peach) fruit pit flavors intermingled with mineral tones from this rocky site. Enjoyable young, the wine also gains great complexity with bottle age.

2007 Terre Rouge Vin Gris d'Amador - Sierra Foothills
(58% MourvÈdre, 36% Grenache, & 6% Syrah)

Our 2007 bottling of Vin Gris has the dryness, richness, and terroir of the best French rosés. With a substantial amount of Mourvèdre in this bottling I think the wine is more reminiscent of Bandol rosé than Tavel, in fact, people often compare our rosé to some of the most famous French rosés. We bleed some of our red Mourvèdre, Grenache, and Syrah tanks to concentrate and intensify flavors. This juice goes into French barrels to ferment just like our other white wines. The wine has subtle cinnamon/nutmeg spiciness with tasty strawberry fruit characteristics. It is absolutely dry with a delicious creamy nuance and crisp bite.

2002 Terre Rouge Syrah, Sierra Foothills

This wine is made from several of our top younger Syrah sites that average about ten years in age. The 2002 vintage yielded rich, profound and opulent wines. This wine is unique in that it is a blend of higher and lower elevation vineyard sites. The two higher elevation vineyard sites approach 3000 feet where it is quite cool; particularly at night. They ripen later and mature at lower sugar levels. These two soprano lots were blended with some Shenandoah Valley lots which was more basso profundo. The resulting combination harmonizes and sings! The upslope lots provide finesse and wonderful meaty, white pepper nuances, while the downslope lots provide structure, concentration, and a great smoky, spicy Syrah sensibility. The grapes are fermented in small lots, hand-punched, and aged for 18 months in French oak barrels (25% new) prior to bottling.

Our single vineyard Syrah is from the oldest Syrah vineyard in the Sierra Nevada (est. 1982) and one of the most famous Syrah sites in California. Each year it provides us with intense luscious fruit. The vineyard is at 1400 feet on a South-facing slope in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, right near our winery. We think you will like the aromas and structure of this 2002. It was picked on September 25th at 25°brix, 3.45 pH, and .70 TA. Reminiscent of our 1997. Dark in color with dense, deepconcentrated layered fruit aromas that are incredibly spicy. In the mouth you’ll find incredibly concentrated framboise flavors, smoky wood tones, and fine tannins. Meaty. Great structure and age ability. It macerated for two weeks in an open-top fermenter with punch-downs two to three times a day. Aged for 23 months in 100% French oak (33% new François Frères) and lightly egg-white fined prior to being bottled unfiltered.

This wine is made from two of our higher elevation Syrah sites. We thought that they expressed the racy aromatics of the Syrah grape that reminded us of Côte Rotie. We are bottling these two sites together as a special treat for those that appreciate the finesse that Syrah can achieve. The 2003 vintage yielded rich, profound and opulent wines. These higher elevation vineyard sites are over 3000 feet where it is quite cool. They ripen later (October 8 & 11) and mature at lower sugar levels. These upslope lots have a lot of finesse and express the wonderful meaty, white pepper nuances of Syrah, while still retaining some of the smoky, spicy qualities of the grape. Our artisan cellar techniques include fermentation in small lots, special yeast strains, manual-punch downs, gentle transfers and pressing, and barrel aging for 20 months in French oak (33% new), prior to bottling the wine unfiltered. Only twelve barrels or 300 cases were produced.

Ascent Syrah represents the pinnacle of Syrah production at TERRE ROUGE. Eight of our very best barrels of Syrah are selected from our cellar each vintage to make a meager 600/6 packs of this luxury cuvée. All of the grapes are grown in selected Syrah sites scattered throughout the Sierra Nevada in granite and volcanic-based soils. This is a deeply concentrated wine with dense layers of aromatic complexity. Loads of deeply-concentrated and incredibly spicy fruit aromas fill your glass.

In the mouth you'll find thick concentrated and riotous meaty Syrah flavors, smoky wood tones, exotic spices, mineral tones, and fine tannins. Great structure and aging potential. The grapes macerated for two weeks in an open-top fermenter with punch-downs two to three times a day. The wine was aged for 23 months in French oak barrels (100% new François Frères - from four different forests) and lightly egg-white fined prior to being bottled unfiltered. A sublime treat!