Your Cure For Boring Summer Wines

Two new releases from Southern Oregon blow the doors off boring rosés

Few wineries in the Northwest have managed a more impressive ugly duckling to beautiful swan transition than southern Oregon's Troon Vineyard. The vineyard's origins date back to the early 1970s, but in 2015-16 an infusion of new owners and new concepts implemented by General Manager Craig Camp, Winemaker Nate Wall and Director of Agriculture Garett Long have utterly transformed and energized the site and the wines.

Regnerative biodynamic farming is part of the process. Relentless experimentation with various types of fermentation vessels is another. Exploring the unique terroir of the Kubli Bench(destined one day to be a sub-AVA nested within the Applegate Valley) is a third. In sum the biodiverse roughly 100-acre farm includes cider apples, vegetable gardens, beehives, sheep, chickens and natural wildlife along with the estate vineyard.

All Troon wines are fermented with wild yeasts and made without additions of any kind. The first piquette I ever experienced was a thrilling example from Troon. There are also such wonderful and unique rarities as Vermentino done three different ways, amphora wines, orange wines, a Pét tanNat and a pair of marvelous blends dubbed Druid's Fluid. The mid-summer releases profiled here arrived with some excellent background notes from Winegrower Craig Camp.

CC:  "Our rosé program always starts with selecting the vines that grow the grapes for this wine. It is essential that those vines are farmed from bud break to make a rosé. Intentionality is everything. The wide range of newly planted varieties at Troon Vineyard are reflected in this wine. We thought the best use of their first vintage was to use their youthful exuberance to craft this zesty, delicately colored wine.

Why release a rosé so late? We follow the lead of our vineyard. All of these varieties were whole cluster pressed, and then barrel fermented using only native yeasts in neutral French Oak barrels. Each barrel is its own microbiological world, and they ferment at their own pace. Months later, often not until Spring, native malolactic commences. Some barrels finish quickly others take months. As a Biodynamic winery, we do not have, or want, any tools to control the natural progression of these processes. This means we do not control when our Kubli Bench Rosé, or any other wine we make, for that matter, is ready to bottle.”

Troon 2022 Kubli Bench Rosé – I suspect this is a first-ever blend for west coast rosé – 55% Mourvèdre, 25% Cinsault and the rest a mix of Counoise, Carignan and Négrette. The color is tawny gold – not a hint of pink (sorry Barbie) – and the flavors show the impact of barrel fermentation with wild yeasts. This is lively, fresh, detailed, textured, with lacy flavors of flower and pollen, citrus and berry. I'll wager it's unlike any rosé you've tasted, and has been given the sort of care and attention rarely bestowed on such wines. 250 cases; 11.9%; $25 (Applegate Valley) 92/100

CC:  "When people talk about orange wines the conversation is focused on winemaking technique. However, we believe the secret to making exceptional orange wines is in the farming. We select specific rows of white grapes and farm them just as we would red grapes. You need to achieve the same phenolic ripeness required for red wine in white grapes destined for orange wine.

Our Kubli Bench Amber has been an evolution. Starting with a disastrous dry Riesling we made in 2016, the first year I arrived at Troon, I knew a new path was needed for those grapes. That dry Riesling was very tannic, making me think there was potential for an orange wine. The next vintage, we made an orange Riesling that was a huge step forward. Those steps have continued, and still continue, as Kubli Bench Amber has evolved into a blend that changes vintage-to-vintage as our new plantings come into production. This 2022 Amber is our first step in a new exploration, with Vermentino, Viognier, and Roussanne making up the blend. In the future, we expect Grenache Gris will be another interesting addition.”

Troon 2022 Kubli Bench Amber – This might well be mistaken for Gewürztraminer, given the floral perfume that leads the taster in that direction. The listed blend is 70% Vermentino, 25% Viognier and 5% Roussanne – no Gewurz and no Riesling as in previous vintages. It's a lovely summer sipper, an elegant, low alcohol wine with flavors of flowers and Asian spices. The finish lingers gracefully, adding highlights of clove and citrus peel Try it with cold noodle dishes or chopped salads. 300 cases; 12.6%; $40 (Applegate Valley) 92/100

Wineries please NOTE:  During the summer heat it's generally wise to hold off on shipping. That said, the Northwest is due for a cool down this week. I invite you to send any and all new and current releases. I'll be doing extensive tastings on a variety of wide-ranging topics throughout the summer and fall. Below are shipping details. Questions? Text or email paulgwine@me.com.

Ship wines to:  PaulG Wine – 230 West Street, Waitsburg, WA   99361

Please include case quantities, release date, suggested retail, vineyard sourcing etc. If you post your current releases on your website I will provide links to featured wines. Two bottles of each is preferable not required. All wines will be tasted; only recommended wines will get published reviews and scores.

My notes and reviews appear on multiple platforms:  www.paulgwine.com; paulgregutt.substack.com; www.postalley.org and www.waitsburgtimes.com. Please subscribe to me on substack and encourage your friends, co-workers and employees to do the same. Substack is completely ad-free and there is no cost to subscribe. Thank you!