Matthew Cohen

9.2

Wow. This tastes just like … a Bourgogne rouge made by William whitehead. What a coincidence.

You get that succulent sexy fruit without as much of the complexity of the better terroir. Which is what you want some nights.

Nose: earth sexy cherries. Hints of cherry liquor.

Palate: full on mid to late season cherry. Cherry liquor. Hints of cherry licorice.

Fass selections

— 2 years ago

Willem Jan Withagen

9.7

A wine I collected by coincidence. Did not know too much about barolo then other than that I liked it. It’s been in my cellar for quite some time. (Like 12+ years) The wine is nice translucent ruby red. The nose is typical nebiolo: rose, plum, cherries, tabaco, leather. But o so very balanced and smooth. Silky smooth and “sweet” tanine, exact the way that add lots of quality to the wine. 100% proof of the fact that good nebiolo will turn into royal wine if you have the patiënce. Served it with venison and deer filet with truffel, a typical Piëmont combination for it, made it the highlight of the diner. Now waiting for the other years to rippen. Can’t wait. — 6 years ago

Tanetha Jamay

10

Starts sweet. Finishes smooth. Like this a lot but getting instant headaches. Maybe coincidence — 7 years ago

Boxer Briefs

10

Happy coincidence to have the 08 and 10 separately on the same day. So different. 08 has more weight, fruit is riper, darker. The 10 is lighter, more red fruited, spice box driven. Wines are both great, 08 has a longer life ahead of it probably. — 7 years ago

Ceccherini Cristiano

9.3

Not super complex, but still very young and very enjoyable
2002 semillon from the Hunter Valley must be coming from an astral coincidence
They are forever young 🤦🏼‍♂️👍 — 8 years ago

Tom Riley

9.0

2014. Interesting that I had the previous vintage almost a year ago. Nice coincidence. Like last year, this is a splendid wine, elegant and perfumed. The 14.9 abv is seamlessly integrated. Nothing jammy excessive about this wine at all. A true delight. Plainly, it’s damn tasty. Yeow! — 9 years ago

Alex Sine Wave

8.9

Surprising Pinot Noir from the Adelaide Hills in South Australia.

Spicy and aromatic, with notes of strawberries, and even a hint of liquorice or anise, with a good medium body and a tight, berry-filled finish.

Solid Pinot that would pair wonderfully with earthy foods like game meats/poultry, or mushroom dishes. — 9 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.0

Good concentration, dark-fruited, a touch lactic, with a lick of wood and surprising amount of grip. I felt it was quite elegant overall, though the complexity and acidity seems a little lacking especially compared to the other Burgs on the table. Perhaps a little closed at the moment? Solid drinking, but it’s no coincidence that it was one of the last red finished during lunch. — 4 years ago

Chris MacLean

9.3

Hunting for Burgundy in Cannes. No celebrities in sight!!! Coincidence? I think not… — 5 years ago

with Sarah

Adriana Fabbro

9.1

Glouglou indeed! Fresh strawberries and just the right amount of brett.

Updating because of a coincidence too fortuitous not to document/share: I just learned that my current boss/winemaker for Goldeneye was herself a harvest intern at Domaine Binner back in ‘14 and has lots of great anecdotes... — 7 years ago

with Maura

Soshi Takao

9.2

What a coincidence! Same bottle as the previous day at Kagurazaka. — 8 years ago

Steven Richardson

9.1

Sam Neil purchased a vineyard in New Zealand with his Jurassic Park earnings in 1993 - the result is this fine Pinot Noir. I encountered it in London, UK oddly enough, where a statue of Jeff Goldblum was just erected near the Tower bridge. This is not a coincidence - “Life, uhh...” Wine finds a way. — 8 years ago

Henrik Poulsen

9.7

In a weird coincidence both my brother and I brought this to a blind-tasting.
Mine = corked 😥
His = stunning and worth the praise!! — 8 years ago

Bob McDonald

8.9

This is the 6th of an original 6 and from the first bottle the tasting notes have been consistent. This wine has a weird vegetal nose. I have described as H2S in previous notes. This off putting note does not come through on the palate which exhibits ripe fruits with raspberry to the fore. Finishing off with trademark silky tannins. As a coincidence of timing it's illustrious elder brother Hill of Grace - the 2012 vintage was just judged Wine of the Year by Australia's leading wine scribe James Halliday. Well done to Henschke. — 9 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.2

The wife was pretty keen on this. DC thought the bottle looked a little suspect. He described it as a gnarly fuzziness in the wood character, although I couldn't really relate. G, who brought the bottle, rated it well. As for me, I thought it was really nice. Still young. Big and plush, yet manages to retain an elegant touch (which seems to be a common trend across vintages with this domaine's Clos Vougeot, based on tasting notes on the web). Aromas clearly influenced by oak and floral stems, dark fruit driven, very mineral with good acidity, finishes long with plenty of grip and earthy notes. Undeniably impressive, but I don't think it's a coincidence that it was the last bottle finished during dinner. — 5 years ago

MICHAEL COOPER DipWSET

Owner TomeVinos wine shops, WSET Level 3, Blogger www.spanishwinesandmore.com, blog.tomevinos.com

9.3

I love the nose. The aromas are insane. It’s an amazing coincidence that it is called Coste di Rose and smells so much of roses. Lighter color and touch because of light clay and sandy soils. #barolo #nebbiolo — 6 years ago

James Forsyth

9.3

By coincidence I had two Donelan whites on near consecutive nights. The Chard is pretty punchy. Lemon and minerals. Some brioche. Tasty. Like a flat Bollinger. — 6 years ago

Matt Perlman

9.0

Fragrant, floral, low alcohol, cherries and rose petals, but with a definite mineral structure, almost smoky finish. Unexpected and fascinating Chilean wine! (Also totally a coincidence that I pulled something called “Bravos” for GoT season premier) — 7 years ago

Sara C

9.5

Love it! The go-to burgundy that gets compliments from everyone who sips it. Moreover, it’s a great value. It’s not coincidence that this bottle is becoming widely available. The 2015 vintage is *amazing*, and the 2016 follows closely on its heels. Nose: blackberry, basil, sunshine. Palate: blue fruit, perfectly ripe, balsamic reduction, sweet herbs. Nonetheless tart. Silky mouthfeel. Low acid, low-medium tannin. Nice persistence on finish. Garnet in color. — 8 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