Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/237615
PHOTO: ROB BROWN The Wines of Villa San-Juliette: In It to Win It In May 2008, the first estate-grown vintage was bottled. Here are the current releases, with my notes. The wines are extraordinary—and so are the prices. PHOTO: ROB BROWN Villa San-Juliette 2012 Estate Sauvignon Blanc, Paso Robles ($17) Lemon cake nose, sweet pineapple acidity. Streamlined and sexy, powdered sugar coated pineapple cleans the finish gracefully. From vines originally planted in 1993. 90 Villa San-Juliette 2011 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Paso Robles ($20) Here's the superstar, ripe and generous. You can breathe in the aromatics and the cherry-driven red fruit flavor before the first sip. "We get a 'Cab nobleness' here in Paso Robles, explains Ortman as I am " wowed by this wine. "They are not so ripe you'd call them blackberry jam, but the aromatics are at that magic point of ripeness: at best, a mid-palate ripeness. 95 " At La Cosecha restaurant in downtown Paso Robles, owner Chef Santos MacDonal pairs a Honduran family recipe of Pastalitos Catracho with a Grenache from Villa San-Juliette Winery. Villa San-Juliette 2011 "Chorum" Red ($25) This small production proprietary blend of single lot wines (25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Grenache, 18% Petit Verdot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 11% Alicante Bouschet, 5% Syrah and 4% Petite Sirah) is VSJ's flagship label—only 800 cases made.Texturally, its sweet tobacco and cinnamon-coated red fruit is juicy-with-volume and charming. The Grenache gushes fruit with a rich mid-palate that Ortman is making his signature style. 94 A Growing Brand PHOTO: ROB BROWN "Matt is a game changer for us: He fits the brand," insists Trout, who points to Ortman's experience with small lots as well as million-gallon lots. "He has been able to hone in on what makes our fruit special, and the tweaks he put into the 2011 vintage show that greatness. On the business side, he understands the nature of scale because he has already worked with national distribution." Handy skills, since Villa San-Juliette is already distributed in 42 states. Ortman grows 11 grape varieties on the estate (Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Grenache, Cab Franc, Syrah, Zinfandel, Petit Verdot and Alicante Bouschet) and sources fruit such as Albariño, Grenache Blanc and Roussanne from Edna Valley and Viognier from the Paso Robles area. The 2013 harvest is one of the most promising yet. "A moderate summer with a heat spike in early August had everyone scrambling as Brix levels jumped but tannins were still very hard," he notes. "The heat was followed by a cooling trend, which provided us with additional hang-time to achieve full ripening. This additional hang-time developed amazing color and phenolics, greater than I've ever seen." Villa San-Juliette 2010 Estate Merlot, Paso Robles ($18) Dusty tannins in a midst of ripeness and chocolate-covered strawberries. Minerality underlines the flavor profile and the acidity level is perfection with food, but also on its own merit as a by-the-glass sipper (look at these prices, for gosh sake!) This is a wine that will bring Merlot back! 94 Villa San-Juliette 2011 Estate Petite Sirah, Paso Robles ($20) With a big, dynamic nose of tobacco and soy sauce, the dusty, chalky nature of this tamed beast develops as it washes across the mouth. Plum skin and inky juice restrain from overpowering—but this blueberry scented red has its sweet side too. 91 Villa San-Juliette 2011 Estate Zinfandel, Paso Robles ($25) Lush and mouthfilling, well-seasoned with subtle white pepper and fresh fruit. Ortman toned down the alc level to 15.5%, but you'd never guess from its balanced, elegant and quite persistent nature. 91 Villa San-Juliette 2010 Estate Alicante Bouschet, Paso Robles ($38) "This was a pleasant surprise for a non–vitus vinifera, Ortman states of " this Alicante Bouschet, usually a blending grape. He finds the flavors in this red, focuses and coaxes the character out of it. The result is a ginger snap, cinnamon-cherry red-fruit zinger with high acids and dry tannins, just waiting for the right piece of grilled red meat. 89 january 2014 / the tasting panel / 75 TP0114_66-108.indd 75 12/19/13 9:47 PM