Kristen Grimes

9.0

The juice from the Chard grapes with chard grape Brandy!? Some of the same nutty notes, nice thick body and good sweetness. — 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 — 8 years ago

Ilaria Ropolo

10

Val di Neto IGT 2012, 14%. Bottle tasted in January 2015, made with Magliocco Canino grape from souther Italy.
Color: rich, deep purple.
Nose: cherries soaked in spirit, withered flowers, licorice, graphite and rosewood.
Taste: what a BIG wine! Rich, powerful, thick and "chewable", pleasant tannins, sweet and round.
A new favorite for me!
NOTE: I gave 5 stars to this wine not only because I loved it, but because the ratio quality / price is excellent! — 11 years ago

Fabien Lainé

Blogger VinDeling.com

9.0

A well done wine with maybe a bit of little grip wild finish, a nice discovery, a pure and fresh wine - Karasì, is a tribute to the 6100 year wine tradition of Armenia and to its Areni Noir grape, which has created the authentic spirit of this wine. Its name is a reference to its long aging in traditional large, clay, amphorae (karasì being the Armenian translation “from amphora”). — 11 years ago

Sharon B

9.3

Mmm this is why I like Petite Sirah! Lots of dark fruit with a smooth finish. Great story on the bottle about how a Count from Europe immigrated to America. He became the first Sheriff of San Diego County then moved to Northern California to pursue grape growing. As legend has it, he was eaten by a crocodile while in Nicaragua. This wine honors his spirit as an entrepreneur, an explorer, a true daredevil at heart. — 6 years ago

Evan Orensten

9.3

Crisp and lovely, an usual and difficult to grow grape — 8 years ago

with Cee and Josh

Mo and Laurie

8.9

Grape
Tropical fruity sweetness, lychee (Laurie says like Chinese lychees)
Slightly fortified taste
White spirity grappa like edge on the nose
A bit like Chinese white spirit, flower
Balanced
Really deep rich sweetness. Growing on Mo — 9 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.0

Aromas of Earth and savoury cherry. A different dry red using all of the traditional Iberian grape varieties to make Port of Tinta Barocca 26%, Touriga Nacional 26%, Tinta Cao 24% and Tinta Roritz 24% in Rutherglen - best known for its outstanding Fortifieds. Has all the flavours of a Dry Port without the added alcohol of the Brandy Spirit. This is 14.1% Alc. One of the more interesting reds of recent times. Medium weight, savoury to the max with a nice acid line. — 9 years ago

Sarah O'Kelley

9.0

My spirit grape - well played - peach & rocks & acidity! Yum. — 10 years ago

Krystyna Borden Condon

9.6

A crisp refreshing fruity white wine ideal for summer drinking. This is a blend of moscatel, codega, and rabigato. Beautiful citrus undertones that pairs well with seafood, fish, and chicken. — 11 years ago

Genie Ko

9.0

A little champers to get the Bay Grape holiday dinner started - this is before we determined our spirit grapes. #latergram — 11 years ago

with Reilly and Stevie

Connor Smith

9.4

There are a lot of California wineries out there that are valuable to the man at the top mostly as a way to impress their friends. There are not many that are primarily a way to satisfy the founder’s hopeless geekery for wine, soil, weather, and getting his hands dirty. 🍇🌞💨⛏

Kevin Harvey made his money in Silicon Valley as an entrepreneur and investor. But his journey to winemaking didn’t begin with a business transaction, but by planting vines in his backyard and vinifying it himself in his garage. He had the itch: he had to get real with it.

Harvey has spent most of the past 20 years developing brand new vineyard sites - often targeting old Christmas tree farms! He is deeply involved with research, planning, getting soil and grape analytics, setting up weather stations, and viticulture - though, with the fruits of his labor (pun intended) being of such remarkable potential, it is perhaps wise to turn the cellar work over to veteran winemaker Jeff Brinkman to realize it.

The result of Harvey’s outstanding grape material and Brinkman’s capable hands in undeniable. In a world full of California winemakers trying to take their shot at Burgundy, Rhys has accomplished what so often gets lost in the pursuit of style: an honest and clear communication from the vines. That’s the true Burgundian spirit.

Harvey has said their goal is to get you “staring into a glass of vineyard”. This Horseshoe Vineyard Pinot Noir, facing west toward the Pacific taking in a daily blanket of foggy marine layer, can only come from one place. In what seems like the blink of an eye, Rhys has become one of the most celebrated wines in America, with good reason. 🇺🇸🍷 — 6 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

The history of Lugana dates back to 1993 when Sergio first understood the potential of the Trebbiano di Lugana grape. The Wine embodies his innovative and foresight spirit, as well as the courage to propose the Lugana in a renewed style. Golden yellow with aromas of exotic fruit and floral notes. Palate shows passion fruit, savory full-bodied, lively acidity and mineral tones on a lingering finish. — 9 years ago

Scott Taddeo

9.2

Hard to rate this wine as its far too young to be drunk, but alas. Shows pronounced youthful aromas of boysenberry, plums, violets, glazed walnuts, brown sugar and slight grape spirit. Intensely structured wine, insanely deft but ample tannin profile giving serious shape to the wine. Needs to be visited years from now. — 9 years ago

Curt Williams

8.9

Well balanced, smooth fruits on the front-end, not a fruit bomb — 9 years ago

Chris DeBarr

9.3

Scott Frank brings his playful spirit to his wines, a trait I totally dig. I love that he found this relatively old vineyard of Cabernet Sauvignon planted early in Oregon wine revival history in kind of a wrong place for the grape, but the old vines have soldiered on and now supply this zesty, sea-spray, not big but utterly bodacious wine! Air Guitar rocks!! It's a great IDGAF testament that even weeds can give honey if we have the patience to be dazzled by the simplicity of being in the wrong place at the right time... — 10 years ago

Genie Ko

9.1

Enjoying my spirit grape. — 11 years ago