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Tero Estates 2013 Super Tuscan
It's all about the fruit
Amidst the rolling hills outside Milton-Freewater, with the Blue Mountains in clear view, Doug Roskelley knew he'd found what he was looking for: A mature vineyard with luscious fruit right in the heart of the Walla Walla Valley's best wine growing region (the Oregon side!) And more to the point, he'd found the next chapter in his life.
Doug had been working in construction, building many of the wineries and tasting rooms in the popular Woodinville wine tasting area outside Seattle. Spend enough time around wineries and you'll fall in love with winemaking. And so, when it came time to "retire", Doug struck up a partnership with an old friend - Mike Tembreull - and launched Tero Estates.
They bought that beautiful Windrow Vineyard, the western section of the historic Seven Hills Vineyard, and committed themselves to making wines that showcase the extraordinary fruit. And what fruit! Planted in 1981, Windrow and the Seven Hills were the first commercial vineyard in the Valley and many of the famed winemakers in the area have used grapes from Windrow.
As Doug says, "if you've done a good job growing the fruit, the wine will evolve on its own. You shouldn't have to play with it."
Cellar 503 Tasting Notes
Tero Estates, Milton-Freewater, Oregon
2013 Super Tuscan
In Europe, the rules for naming wines can be maddening - even for winemakers who have been navigating them for decades. In the 1970s, frustrated by the rules governing Chianti, Italian winemakers started releasing wines they called "Super Tuscan". An unofficial name, it came to mean traditional wines of Tuscany blended with wines from outside Italy - often Sangiovese blended with French varietals like Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah.
Tero's 2013 Super Tuscan style blends 52% Sangiovese and 48% Cabernet Sauvignon. You'll notice aromas of berries and plums - and plenty of that Cabernet heft to go with the Sangiovese spice. (But not that typical Cabernet vegetal hit of bell peppers, as the dry and hot 2013 season pushed those flavors aside.) It's a great wine to enjoy with your summer grilling, or saved for a big tomato-based pasta when the fall rains arrive.
Finally, in a bit of bureaucratic irony, the term "Super Tuscan" is barred from wine labels by American regulators bent on protecting a term even the Italians don't care for. That's why Tero's bottle is mysteriously labeled "S.T.", rather than Super Tuscan. Go figure.
A Cellar 503 selection in July 2017, Eastern Oregon Columbia Valley | Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese
