WTN: Reustle UmpquaVlly Wines...(long/boring)

We tried last night (2/26/14) some Reustle Wines:
1. Reustle GrunerVeltliner Revelation&Sorek Bloc/PrayerRockVnyd (13.7%; www.ReustleVineyards.com; Drk: 2013-2017;
100% SS; 500 cs) Stephen&GloriaReustle/PrayerRockVnyds/Roseburg/UmpquaVlly/OR 2012: Pale yellow near colorless;
strong floral/GV slight peppery/earthy rather spicy quite attractive nose; fairly tart light GV/floral/peppery
slight earthy structured dry bit austere flavor; very long tart/dry/bit austere some floral/GV/peppery/earthy
rather spicy bit candied finish; very attractive nose but not as intense on the palate; quite likeable GV.
$29.00
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2. Reustle Riesling Engedi&Onyx Bloc (12.0%; Drk: 2012-2018; 100% SS; 294 cs) 2010: Pale yellow color; lovely very
floral/R/pineapple/mango/grapefruity some Mosel valve oil/petrol/smokey rather Germanic quite lovely nose;
fairly tart/dry/tangy/metallic strong appley/grapefruity/pineapple/mango/spicy/floral/R bit Mosel valve oil/
petrol bit austere/Germanic flavor; very long tart/tangy/metallic/grapefruity/austere strong pineapple/mango/
floral/R slight petrol/valve oil/smokey finish; reminds me of a NaheKabinett; quite a nicely done R in a rather
Germanic style. Great price at $21.00
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3. Reustle PinotNoir PishonBloc (13.0%; Drk: 2014-2019; 84% new Fr.oak; 25 brls) 2011: Med.light color; rather
earthy/dusty light toasty/oak very pretty cherry/PN/spicy quite attractive nose; bit tart some pencilly/toasty/
oak bright/zippy/spicy/cherry/cherry pie/PN light earthy flavor w/ light tannins; lightly tart light/bright/
cherry/PN/spicy/cherry pie light earthy finish w/ light/firm tannins; a pretty drinkable PN. $34.00
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4. Reustle Tempranillo Tinnah Bloc (14.3%; Drk: 2011-2020; Fr./Am.oak; 21 brls) 2009: Dark color; rather intense
black cherry/boysenberry/Temp some toasty/oak bit chocolaty/licorice slight herbal/smokey/earthy bit Rioja-like
nose; fairly tart/bit sour very strong black cherry/boysenberry/Temp/black cherry cola some toasty/oak flavor
w/ rather hard/rough tannins; very long strong black cherry/boysenberry/Temp/black cherry cola light toasty/oak
finish w/ strong/hard/rough tannins; still needs some age; reminds a bit of a big Rioja w/ not all the oak;
a very good Temp at a good price. $29.00
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5. Reustle Malbec GolgothaBloc (14.3%; Drink: now-2017; Fr.Am.oak; 5 brls) 2012: Very dark/black, very intense
boysenberry/blackberry/chocolaty/licorice some toasty/oak bit herbal/rosemary complex nose; soft intense
boysenberry/blackberry/chocolaty/black cherry cola rather toasty/oak bit herbal/thyme flavor w/ ample/hard
tannins; very long black cherry cola/boysenberry/blackberry/Malbec bit herbal/thyme/rosemary some toasty/charred/
oak finish w/ ample/hard/tough tannins; reminds me a bit of the Lagier-Meredith Malbec, a bit of a very good
Cahors w/o the coarse/earthy character; badly needs age; very attractively priced at $31.00.
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6. Reustle Syrah Winemaker'sReserve (13.6%; Drk: now-2021; Fr./Am.oak; 11 brls) 2012: Very dark color; bit herbal/
earthy some cracked black pepper strong blueberry/Syrah/boysenberry/licorice light toasty/oak slight pungent/
graphite/ozone rather complex nose; fairly tart some tangy/metallic/herbal strong blueberry/Syrah/blackberry light
toasty/oak bit earthy/dusty flavor w/ modest/firm tannins; very long light earthy/herbal/dusty strong blueberry/
Syrah/blackberry/spicy light toasty/oak finish w/ strong/firm tannins; needs 4-8 yrs; a very interesting Syrah
that reminds me a lot of JohnCabot's HumboltCnty Syrahs; very fairly priced at $39.00
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7. Reustle Syrah Gloria's (13.3%; 100% Am.oak) 2010: Very dark color; beautiful intense cracked black pepper/cold-
climate/pungent/mineral/graphite strong blueberry/blackberry/Syrah some whole-cluster/Rhonish/meaty/roasted
rather complex nose; fairly tart/tangy/grapefruity strong cracked black pepper/cold-climate bit roasted/Rhonish/
smokey/graphite/whole-cluster strong blueberry/blackberry/Syrah/spicy bit earthy complex flavor w/ some hard/
rough tannins; very long/lingering very strong blueberry/blackberry/Syrah/cola some roasted/Rhonish/whole-
cluster quite cracked black pepper/cold-climate/mineral/graphite/pungent finish w/ fairly hard tannins; needs
4-8 yrs or more; some like the RanchoBodega/Boheme Syrahs from the QueSyrah vnyd; a terrific rather Rhonish
Syrah at a very fair price. $42.00
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And the usual blabbering from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Reustle/PrayerRockVnyd: One of the members in our group is a big fan of SteveReustle's wines. I'd never heard
of them before, nor ever tried any UmpquaVlly wines. So Skip made arrangements for these first 6 wines to be
sent us to try. The Gloria came from his own stash.
Reustle was the first in the USofA to release a Gruner, in 2005. Being a folower of GV in Calif, I was
eager to try their rendition. It spoke strongly of GV and a very well-made wine. Not quite the intensity
of the Carlisle or the Solminer in Calif, but better than most of the other ones I've tried.
Of the whites, most people's favorite seemed to be the Riesling. It had strong pineapple character w/
some Germanic valve oil nots and not the tutti-fruity character of some OR/WA Rieslings.
I was quite impressed by Steve's reds, especially the last four, particularly the two Syrahs. The Gloria's
was as good a Syrah as any you can find in Calif.
These were my first wines from the UmpquaVlly. Looking at the pics of the area and tasting the reds, they
reminded me a lot of the wines from JohnCabot's HumboltCnty vnyd and some of those from StuBewley's Alder
Springs vnyd, with their slightly herbal/earthy character. Definitely an area I'd like to explore. A real
discovery for me.
Tom

Good notes, Tom. Thanks.

Couple of things:

1) I think highly of the Umpqua. It's showing tremendous promise, and it's sufficiently different from the Willamette to the north, which gets most of the praise, and the Rogue/Applegate to the south, which serves for a lovely warm-weather region for Oregon.

You say this is the first Umpqua you've had? Then you've never had Abacela Winery wines? If not, correct that immediately, get on the stick and get some. Abacela produces some fine, fine wines. Since the very start they've been dedicated to Tempranillo, which they've developed nicely. They also have Albarinho; and it's good. Right now Abacela is probably the best of the Umpqua.

2) You mention several times in your notes that the wines are nicely or fairly priced. I guess I haven't adjusted to the New Realism Economy of wines yet, old fuddy-duddy cheapster that I am, but a GV starting at $29 (from a winery you'd never heard of and a grape in an unlikely growing area, that's a price that puts it into the oddity slot---I might punt for one just to try it, but it darned sure wouldn't be one I'd buy in quantity. To me, the prices seem high. But like I said, I'm cheap. When a winery starts at $30 and goes from there, I figure they're going with aspirational prices rather than trying to get the wine into my mouth.

Hoke,

I'm with you on point #2. That was my first reaction when reading Tom's post.

Good notes, Tom. Thanks.



You say this is the first Umpqua you've had? Then you've never had Abacela Winery wines? If not, correct that immediately, get on the stick and get some. Abacela produces some fine, fine wines. Since the very start they've been dedicated to Tempranillo, which they've developed nicely. They also have Albarinho; and it's good. Right now Abacela is probably the best of the Umpqua.

Hoke,
I've heard a number of good things about Abacela, but haven't tried any of them yet. They're on my radar.

2) You mention several times in your notes that the wines are nicely or fairly priced. I guess I haven't adjusted to the New Realism Economy of wines yet, old fuddy-duddy cheapster that I am, but a GV starting at $29 (from a winery you'd never heard of and a grape in an unlikely growing area, that's a price that puts it into the oddity slot---I might punt for one just to try it, but it darned sure wouldn't be one I'd buy in quantity. To me, the prices seem high. But like I said, I'm cheap. When a winery starts at $30 and goes from there, I figure they're going with aspirational prices rather than trying to get the wine into my mouth.

Well, Hoke....it's OK to be a fuddy-duddy...you're my hero in that regard!!
As for the pricing, I was thinking more in terms of Calif GV pricing. $29 for a GV for coming from a totally unknown region, to me, doesn't seem particularly overpriced. Now that I had it,
I wouldn't go back for more. But the Carlisle GV, at $34, I'd go back and buy more if I could get it. That's very fairly priced for high-end Austrian GV I think.
Obviously, you can buy good/sound/drinkable Austrian GV for $12-$20. If I want a servicable white, that'd be my choice. But they're not as interesting to my palate as some in the $25-$35 range.
When vonStrasser came out w/ their first NapaVlly GV, it was priced about $60. I bit, because I wanted to try it, pretty certain it was overpriced. But I wanted to try it. It was waaaay overpriced
and I never went back. Since then, the marketplace as spoken and they've dropped the price to $40. Still overpriced, IMHO.
Tom (also widely regarded as a fuddy-duddy because he has a punched card reader hooked up to the USB port on his iPad)

[Jenise]

Interesting report. Not a winery I'd heard of yet, but that's sadly not surprising. You'd think that being right next door to Oregon we'd see a lot of their wines up here but in fact we rarely see much outside of certain usual suspects, and the only Umpqua product being Henry Estates pinots. We hope to get into that area for more exploration in the near future.