WTN: Buty and the Beast--A Walla Walla Wine Epiphany

It's refreshing to know that after 30+ years of the wine game, I can still be jolted into adolescent levels of excitement by a winery visit. Epiphanies might come less frequently than before, but they don't lessen at all in their intensity. The first wine epiphany I had at the Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla was with [url]Buty Winery.com[/url].

Buty caught my attention during a "speed tasting", when the owners gave me a brief peek-taste at an engaging white blend of Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc/Muscadelle, with snappy herbs, lean acids, and a bit of tobacco-y, figgy fatness from the Semillon. Got my attention.

Imagine my delight, then, when the little yellow school bus we were on turned into the Buty Rockgarden Vineyard as the first stop the next morning on our WBC tour. Caleb Foster and Nina Buty-Foster had arranged a tailgate tasting at the vineyard, and our first wine of the morning (We're all professionals here!) was a wine under their "Beast" designation, an alter-ego line reserved for interesting, perhaps experimental, diversions from the major focus of the Buty line.

So we were poured a glass of gorgeous coppery-pink rose', and we gazed over the vibrant green of the young vines, scuffed our feet in the cobblestone-studded soil, and looked at the line of the Blue Mountains in the distance. A lovely way to start the day.

Then I tasted the Beast Rose' of the Stones, LeFore Vineyard, Rose' of Cabernet Sauvignon, 2009.

Wow!

A little background here: one of my nicknames, proudly earned, is "M'sieur Rose'." I am also certified as a Master Instructor on Rose' wines by the Wines of Provence agency and the French Wine Society. I have pursued the elusive rose' all over the world. I know just a little bit about rose'.


And this is the best American Rose' I have ever had.


I would put it right up there with the very best of Provence (and that is the highest praise from me.) Kudos to Caleb, Nina, and LeFore Vineyard.


Beast Rose' of the Stones---named after the distinctive cobblestone soil in the vineyard, reminiscent of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, except that the rocks here are basaltic in nature---is a delicate copper-pink wine with finely etched flavors of tantalizing tart berry fruits in a tight acid structure; it's vibrant, tingly and refreshing on the tongue; clean, crisp, lively and long on the finish; and each sip leaves you wanting more.


The secret here is that Caleb, the winemaker, made an intentional rose', not an afterthought or a byproduct of a red wine. This is a vin de presse, also called a Champagne Press, where the singular intent was to create pale, fresh-fruited, light and lively wine through allowing minimal fruit maceration then lightly pressing the wine to achieve just enough flavor and acidity. This style is not easy with Cabernet Sauvignon, because it's difficult to maintain just the right balance of fruit and liveliness without getting too much tannic bite and bitterness from the skins, but leaving enough 'grip' to make in interesting. But Caleb has done an excellent job of creating a fully balanced and harmonious wine. It's a testament to both his superb skill and to the quality of the fruit he had to work with.

The bad news? You'll have to take my word for it, because this wine is long gone. First, it was available only through the Friends of the Beast Club/wine club that Buty maintains for its followers (and there are a lot of followers), or directly at the winery. Second, once released, it was gone almost immediately. (And the moral of this lesson is: sign up for the Beast wine club so you'll be one of the select few to enjoy this delight of a wine.)

The good news? I just spoke with Buty winemaker Caleb Foster and he assured me there would be another Beast Rose' next vintage. He wouldn't say what it was going to be, precisely, but he did say it would be from their Rockgarden Vineyard and it would be in the same style. I've signed up already.

Based on this wine alone, I would be interested in following this talented young couple and their wines. But there's more than just this one wine. That, however, will have to wait until the next installment of this blog, when I wax rhapsodic about the Buty Rediviva of the Stones.

For text with pics, go to http://www.violentfermentation.blogspot.com

[Jenise]

Hoke,

Buty's wines are indeed splendid. Here's my note on that magnificent white from this past April:

Buty's wines are hard to come by up here as I guess demand is greater than the supply, but each of the two bottles I've already had impressed me hugely so even though I'm not in the habit of paying $36 for domestic wines, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to try this white Bordeaux blend. The grapes for this one come from various parts of the Columbia Valley, and the constituency is 69% semillon, 26% sauvignon blanc and 5% muscadelle which adds some interesting florals to the nose. Some of the blend is fermented in mature oak, the rest goes to stainless steel. Pretty bright yellow color suggests a bit of extract, but there's nothing overdone about the nose or the palate: the nose is highly aromatic honeysuckle without the sugar, and on the palate there's lemon, melon, flint, peas and green tea. Minerality adds some heft, and the finish is long-lasting. Acid balance is good and the overall impression is at once both serious and elegant--it may cost a bit, but it tastes expensive. In fact, it's the best Washington semillon I've had (there's a lot of it grown up here).

I've been fortunate to meet Caleb and Nina -- they're friends of my brother-in-law and great people -- and while that certainly biases me, I think Buty is the best winery in Walla Walla. I have yet to drink a bottle I didn't like. My complaint is I haven't had enough, because they're so hard to get. Of course, that's a consequence of their quality.

Jenise: That is an excellent description of the Buty white! The brief glimpse I had sure left me wanting more. I really like Caleb's sensibility about wine. He's not heavy-handed, and always lets the grapes speak. Very deft use (i.e., minimal) of oak, only that needed to add some flavor and textural support, but never enough to mask or get in the way of the wine.

Bruce: Yep, Caleb and Nina are great people. Natural, unassuming, unpretentious, friendly and open and warm. And they were positively bubbling over with excitement at having us in their vineyard---which is their new baby (in addition to the two that they have). Should be great things coming out of the Rockgarden Vineyard, I think.

[Jenise]

Hoke, I just checked winesearcher for Buty wines to see what gets around, and of course the answer is not much comparatively speaking, but some lucky folks on the east coast can pick up the white blend in Virginia for $21. It's more commonly priced in the high 20's apparently: the $36 I paid was SeaTac airport pricing. I bought it at Vino Volo, the wine bar that's just off the food court (and inside Security)--have you been yet?--where all the prices are inflated but darn they get some nice stuff and I'm forever grateful that they're there.

We were supposed to go to Walla Walla for the Spring Barrel Tasting again this year and when forming an itinerary with friends, I more or less said "go wherever you want but just make sure I get an afternoon at Buty", and I emailed Nina to make sure they were open and if they weren't, to arrange a private tasting. We didn't end up going after all, but based on just the two truly exceptional bottles I've had I'm sure I would now be telling you that Buty had joined DeLille at the top of my personal favorite Washington wineries list, a list that is otherwise and regrettably not very long.