In the past few weeks, we’ve had the opportunity to try a couple of wines from Troon Vineyard that were new to us and made mostly from Italian varieties. As reported previously, this southern Oregon winery is producing exciting bottlings using varieties that you might not expect in that neck of the woods, so we were only too eager to try them and see what they have to offer. We invited our good friends Shar Douglas and Ken Hebenstreit to sample them with us, and Shar offered to make dinner, so we were set to go and in like Flynn.

2016 Troon Vineyard Montepulciano Applegate Valley Kubli Bench Estate Bottled, 11.5% alc., $25: Clean dark garnet color, with a spicy black cherry nose that carries over on to the palate with a decidedly earthy base. Full bodied and structured for five years or more in the cellar, and while it’s good now with lamb kabobs and rice, it’ll be even better in a few years. Shar added an impression of smoke on the nose; this smoky character does set tone to the wine’s character as it opens, and that’s a good thing. 146 cases produced. Find this wine

2016 Troon Vineyard Sangiovese, Applegate Valley, Kubli Bench Estate Bottled, 12.5% alc., $25: Clean, dark color, with earthy dried cherry and black cherry flavors and aromas. Medium-medium-full bodied, and like the Montepulciano, structured for a good five years or more in the cellar. It opens nicely with a little air, some spicy notes add interest and appeal, and it too makes a good match for the lamb kabobs and rice. “It’s more spicy than the Montepulciano, with less smoke,” adds Shar, and I would agree completely. 194 cases produced. Find this wine

Neither of these two fine reds “wowed” us like several of the French varieties from Troon that we’ve tried, and they aren’t meant to. General Manager Craig Camp describes a “unique touch of bitterness that makes them come alive when paired with a wonderful meal,” as the main reason he’s been enamored with Italian reds for decades, and these both have a bit of that bitterness. Both come off more “Italian” as they continue to open; they are very nice with the meal Shar served and they’re fairly priced for what’s in the bottles. I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what Troon crafted them to do.

Here’s a little background info on these two, as provided by Craig Camp: “Both of these wines are produced from mature vines in our estate vineyards here in the Applegate Valley from the warm 2016 vintage. Both are co-fermented with a small percentage of syrah, which we like to include for a bit of structure and to enhance aromatics. All of the fruit is from our LIVE and Salmon Safe Certified vineyard. Our goal is to achieve our biodynamic certification by 2020.

Each was crafted followed by our established winemaking philosophy, which means crushing by foot followed by native yeast fermentation and hand punch downs in 1 ton fermenters. No acids, sugar, enzymes or additives are used. After fermentation the wines were pressed into mature French Oak Burgundy barrels where they matured for twelve months. No new oak barrels are used.”

Reporting from Day-twah,
Bastardo

Save

Save

Save

Related posts:

1. A Six Pack of Troon
2. Orange Wine From Oregon’s Troon Vineyard
3. A Troon Half Dozen