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Dominio IV Wines 2013 Technicolor Bat
From Chile to the Columbia Gorge
For many young people, it’s a rite of passage -- graduate from college, grab a backpack, and travel to Europe to see the sights. But Patrick Reuter and Leigh Bartholomew weren’t interested in just bumming around on $20 a day.
No, Patrick and Leigh headed for Chile and were hired at a large winery as junior staff without winemaking experience.
Surprise! They ended up running the place on their own. Learning on the job, calling on fellow winemakers, they figured it out – especially challenging as Chilean austerity meant that the power would shut off every night at 6:30 p.m.
As it turned out, after that high-pressure trial by fire, wine would be a long-term future. They attended UC Davis, where Patrick focused on winemaking and Leigh on viticulture.
After stops in New Zealand and France, it was time to come home to Oregon. Leigh’s parents loaded up a doublewide and moved onto land they found in Mosier, planted grapes at the biodynamic Three Sleeps Vineyard, and Dominio IV was born.
Cellar 503 Tasting Notes
Dominio IV Wines, Carlton, Oregon
2013 Technicolor Bat
The 2013 Technicolor Bat wine is a blend of 80% Tempranillo, 16% Syrah, and 4% Petit Verdot. Patrick considers it a “multi-spectrum blend” of the entire Three Sleeps Vineyard, an organically-farmed biodynamic vineyard in Mosier, Oregon.
What does “Technicolor Bat” mean? Well, according to Patrick, this wine “is made to fly at night. The bat’s flight is luring yet smooth and infinitely accurate. For a moment you think that you cannot track its movement. Then the moon lifts, and the bat’s Technicolor wings flash across the midnight sky.”
You’ll pick up dark notes of licorice, smoke, coffee, and chocolate-covered cherries. You’d think that would be heavy on the palate, but it’s a light and smooth wine that will invite you a second and third glass.
A Cellar 503 selection in April 2019, Slow Wine Movement Columbia Gorge | Petit Verdot, Syrah, Tempranillo
