Hannah Van Opstal

9.8

Although it’s rated very dry, it has a very delightful sweetness to its strong taste. Awesome Shiraz. — 4 years ago

Jody Scharf

9.3

Nice blend of dark fruits, let it sit. Needs to open up. — 4 years ago

Brandon Boesch

9.2

Needs some air and likely time in the bottle. Rustic with obvious Napa qualities. Nose is pretty with flowers, dark fruits, berries, bark. Palate is more vanilla and barrel than the nose tells. I’d like to revisit in a year or two. My guess is this is just too young and not completely integrated. Very lovely despite that. — 5 years ago

Julie Konchan

9.5

KayLynn brought this to the brunch. — 5 years ago

Quinton Gillespie

8.9

Great Rosè. The more you drink, the more it grows on you. — 6 years ago

Todd Anderson

9.2

Nice to taste some good dirt again, fruit second — 7 years ago

Michelle Connely

9.5

Consumed 11/2017. I have rated this wine before, but the bottle had a different description so I am adding this one as well. When I try to look back at my previous ratings, I can’t figure out how to see what year the vintage was. That could be why the description on the bottle is different.
Robust flavors of ripe berry fruit meld harmoniously with smoky oak and subtle hints of eucalyptus and the earth. An elegant Cassis note complements the long, noble finish. — 7 years ago

Heather Robinson

9.4

Delicious but our last bottle. The big break is grapes grown where a dam broke and now grapes grow. We had a 2011 and it said to cellar it for 5-6 years. Nice full bodied zin, and we preferred it aerated. 16%, don't recall what we spent but prob no more than $20 due to a power buy — 8 years ago

J Chechik

9.1

Prob didn’t need to have this btl at the end of the night, but it had a great, sweet richness. Lots of vanilla bean, soft chocolate finesse. What a treat - especially after having a 2017 Imposter early in the nite! Thx Jeff Cohn. — 4 years ago

Cory K.

9.0

A go to in our house. Winey goodness — 5 years ago

with Claire

Ken Z

9.0

Drank 2/21/20. Tasting event. Tasting pour.

An early drinking, more ripe style. Black cherry, black currant, magic marker, earth and a touch of underbrush on the bouquet. Black fruit and a hint of pepper on the nose well integrated tannins, full body, long finish.

4/21/8/3/4 +50=90 pts. — 5 years ago

Lisa Reynolds

9.5

I mean I always say yes to Bedrock! Solid Zin can drink on its own. Great with food! Great bang for the buck! — 6 years ago

Mark Morgan

8.9

Has gone to sleep a little since last year. I’ll give my other bottle a couple years hibernation. — 7 years ago

President Obama

9.7

Low acid. Gift from Derek. — 7 years ago

Tom Inners

9.6

this is bitchin 'white' wine! Had it upon release but I've got to say I love it even more today, having squirreled away a bottle of this 2014 to check in on it on a later date. Remarkable acidity, and a long list of flavors that keep pushing all the right buttons. Bottles like this need to be part of your 'Required Reading' list, especially in making the case for Pinot Gris the bodacious babe she truly is. — 8 years ago

Guillermo Gonzalez

9.0

Stone fruits, some spice. Piercing acidity. Maybe the blend but drank a bit like a southern Rhone. Didn’t stand up to Melissa Clark’s Hoisin Glazed Pork Bowl. — 4 years ago

Allison Frazier

9.4

Really enjoy as an alternative to Hahn! — 5 years ago

Ron Haber

9.5

2O Years, going strong, beautifully balanced fruit in a 1.5L. No rush to even drink it!!!!! — 5 years ago

Sarah Milsow-Guenther

9.0

Still delicious. Time to drink. Color is starting to turn a little bit. Best with food. Nice blend. — 6 years ago

Mason Balistreri

Sommelier, International Wine Guild; Balistreri Vineyard; Sales, Joy Wine and Spirits

9.6

It might shock you, but my favorite rosé is not French but instead comes from California! Blasphemy, I know - but Bedrock's Ode to Lulu is just that good. The difficulty is actually finding a bottle. For the last three years, I've only been allocated a case (or less) to sell here in Denver. It's possible you are one of the select few I've actually told about this wine... If not, now is your chance. This is the first year there's an "okay" supply. It won't last, but you should be able to get a bottle.

So yes, it's not French but it's made in the same style and method of Tempier Bandol Rosé- the most sought after, cult rosé out there. The name "Ode to Lulu" is actually an homage to the 4.5 foot tall, 101 year old woman named "Lulu" Peyraud (born Lucie Tempier) whose father gifted the Mourvedre heavy estate to her and her husband Lucien Peyraud. The wines they would go on to produce from the 1940's onward quite literally defined Bandol and put it on the map as some of the best rosés out there. She's still alive and presumably drinking plenty of wine.

This California-born "Ode to Lulu" is modeled after the great Tempier, but has some unique properties compared to it's French namesake. For one, the vines are EXTREMELY old. Tempier defined itself by focusing on old Mourvèdre and Grenache plantings, but even these French vineyards cannot compare to what Bedrock is working with in California. If you don't know, Bedrock is the winery of Morgon Twain Peterson, son of legendary Ravenswood founder Joel Peterson. Morgon grew up making wine and through his father has cultivated relationships with some of the most important heritage vineyards in California. The "Ode to Lulu" is made from Mourvèdre and Grenache planted as far back as 1888! These are some of the oldest plantings of these grapes around and make for unbelievable wines. Tempier's average vine age is around 40 years old today. Bedrock's is over 3x as old. Insane.

Morgon may be young, but he has a life time of winemaking experience. He started making wine with his father when he was 5 years old and hasn't stopped yet. In addition to absorbing his father's knowledge on heritage vineyards, he is a real student in the world of wine, earning a "Masters of Wine" designation (this industry's highest achievement). I've been drinking his wine for several years and I can say that his wine is made extremely thoughtfully and with expert attention to detail. This is true even with a wine as humble as rosé.

Unlike most California pink wine, Bedrock is not produced by "bleeding off" juice from a red wine. Instead, the grapes are picked early and separately at very low potential alcohols, and whole cluster pressed with low extraction. This preserves the freshness and acidity, creating a wine of clarity. In an old blog post I dug up, Morgon explains this idea:

"I pick at potential alcohols lower on the scale where brightness and lift still exist. This is not to say that fruit does not matter—I use Mourvedre from a block planted over 120 years ago for requisite concentration of complexity of flavor—but like fine champagne, the wonders of rosé lie in its unbearable lightness of being."

I agree with this idea of rosé and I think most people instinctively do as well. It's no coincidence that our best selling bottles come from provence. However, I urge you to pick up at least one bottle of this Ode to Lulu. It's a wine that's close in spirit to the best French rosé but made from vineyards that are American and unrivaled in age.

This is the fourth vintage of Ode to Lulu I've tasted, and I would say that's the most elegant yet. The 2015 was maybe my favorite for it's depth and I picked a few up to age, drinking my last bottle recently... This new vintage is great now, but it will reward with a short cellaring time. Honestly, if you can hide 2 bottles and drink them before fall or into next year, you will be blown away. Bandol rosé is a wine that improves dramatically over the course of 6 months to several years (Tempier Rosé is known to go decades). This bedrock is no different.

I can personally attest to past vintages gaining depth with time. How is this possible? Unlike other rosé which should be drank young, Bandol and Ode to Lulu are made of Mourvedre, a grape that is naturally reductive and resistant to oxidation. Further, the acidity is high and alcohol low. As the acidity starts to fall away, a depth and richness of character will emerge. In fruitier/riper rosé with more alcohol, this richness becomes too sweet and cloying... Not the case here. This keep balanced through time, gaining complexity while remaining refreshing. 

You should buy this wine. However, I think there is one more important facet to rosé that I should mention before you do... Rosé is not always about what's in the glass itself. Rosé is really an ethereal thing... It's more so an "essence" of terroir and vintage rather than a sturdy, hard representation like red wine is... Sorry if that doesn't make sense but what I'm trying to say is that sometimes rosé is more about the place and the people you enjoy it with than the exact flavors themselves. Of course, we cannot all visit the picturesque village of Bandol to visit Lulu Peyraud; but I think, with this sunny Colorado weather, we can come close. Perhaps Morgon said it better than I can:

"Proper rosé is refreshing, life-nourishing stuff that revives the soul... I drink as much for pure pleasure as for intellectual stimulation. In the warmer months there is something sacred about a late afternoon meal of cold chicken, fresh garden tomatoes, and rosé. It is one body in the sacred trilogy of rustic simplicity." - Morgon Twain Peterson

#rose #oldvine #lulu #tempier #bedrockwineco — 7 years ago