NEWBIE INTRO: Terrien Wines

In the beginning: ten years ago as I was finishing up at Hanzell I impulsively bought a dozen or so declassified barrels of the 2007 Chardonnay.

We had declassified this particular lot due to a hydrogen sulfide issue that had been just awful during fermentation–dead woodchuck in a culvert. By the time of blending in the spring of 2009 the wine’s underlying character was still cloaked, and though not nearly as bad as it was in its earlier life, the sulfides still posed a problem for the estate bottling as the wine would be heading to market within a year. However, for a new brand with no marketing plan, well, I figured the wine might get better over a longer trajectory. It did.

Several years later I put my name on the bottles and took the wine to market, selling mostly to New York restaurants and the mailing list.

I stopped having access to that gorgeous Hanzell Chardonnay a few years later and in 2012 began to work with a block of Old Wente from Kiser Vineyard (Sangiacomo) in Sonoma Valley. Its a different wine of course, but I love it; hens and chicks, bright acidity, no malo, spent french cooperage. Crushed and macerated before pressing, tank fermented and aged for 6 months then racked to barrel for another 12 months. The wine becomes interesting after several years. I’d say it hits it stride 7 years post vintage whereas the 2007 is still retarded, largely due to that unholy reduction in its infancy.

I also make Pinot Noir from Marin’s Corda Vineyard, farmed by Mark Pasturnak (Devil’s Gulch). Pacific wind and fog and dry farming are the most salient points of the vineyard. Whole-cluster and a step away from the fermenter policy inform the winemaking. Again, not new oak.

All this is to say that I love making wine in these styles and need to find others who dig it. Its my vanity winery. Minus stardom.

Michael is being modest here. I had the 2007 in 2014, just great (three stars is my highest score for any wine so far):


Fabulous, Burg-like Chardonnay. Profound and compelling. Smooth, deep, long, interesting; wonderful balance and persistence. Great precision. A really superb wine.

Posted from CellarTracker

I will second that! I had my first Terrien Chardonnay earlier this year, when I found a 2008 on a restaurant wine list. Not really sure what I was getting, I took a flyer and got a bottle. How often do you see 10+ year-old chardonnay on a restaurant wine list for about $65…?

Long story short, I was blown away, which led me to pursue more. I have had the chance to try a handful of other vintages now and was universally impressed. The 2012 is awesome right now.

And, he is a great guy too (lots of patent and helpful email replies to my questions…). Check this one out with confidence!

A dry blueberry sparkler sounds unique.

It is quite unique, and very fun to make cocktails with. But, his blueberry sparkler is made under a different label (Bluet) and I don’t think is going to be part of this offer. Terrien Wines makes Chards from Sonoma, and Pinots.

Planning to try that blueberry sparkler in a few months–we’ll be near a wine store in Maine (Blue Hill) that carries it.

This has wineberserker geeky-gotta have-cork dork potential written all over it. Love it

I’m watching…

Dude, I just reviewed your offer. You’re Fing brilliant.

I’m PM Todd because that offer format needs to launch early for the “soak time”. Let’s see what we can do under the rules because the straight up launch times are random. Maybe a berserker business option. Let check.