TESSIER

There’s a new girl in town and she’s turning heads. Intoxicating aromas of mountain laurel, gardenia, fleshy Italian plum, cardamom pod, and white pepper hook you in, while the palate is fresh and flavorful with boysenberry, pucker-worthy blackberry soda, and violets. A lengthy finish and a velvety texture provide a wild edge. Whole-cluster pressed and co-fermented with 5% Viognier. Aged in neutral French oak.

An old river bed with rocky soils and large river stones all about. Ocean breezes From the Monterey Bay cool the valley.Picked: 09/09/2020 at 21 brix. Direct whole cluster pressed, aged in stainless steel on the lees, native ferment, unfined and unfiltered.

Savory and Spicy and everything nice, the Goldbud Mourvedre is a spice chest of aromatics. Roasted vanilla and molasses mingle with clove, lavender and coffee on the nose and introduce a palate that’s plush with spiced plums, ginger, mulberry, and Earl Grey tea. The texture is fleshy, yet the structure is focused and muscular. 15% whole cluster fermentation, lovingly lady foot-stomped, and aged in neutral French oak.

Garnet color in the glass with purple magenta hues. Black cherry, charred eggplant along with ripe raspberry are the first to attack. As you settle in, more subtle notes reveal themselves, such as violets, powdered sugar, spruce needles and freshly roasted coffee beans. 33% whole cluster, native fermentation, pumpovers, and aged in neutral French oak for 16 months.

Only 12 acres of this grape are planted in California, also known as Cabernet Pfeffer. These grapes are farmed organically by the Siletto family in the San Benito AVA. Picked at 22 brix on 09/17/21, 50% whole cluster, native fermentation, aged 5 months in neutral French oak - plus 1 stainless steel barrel . Light red color with purple, magenta hues. Aromas of violets, ume, white pepper with earthy notes. On the palate strawberry, turkey fig, a dab of horseradish with grippy tannins.

Winemaker and founder of Tessier Winery, is a scientist turned winemaker. A former published research scientist who studied protein pathways, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area from her native Michigan to pursue a career in biotechnology, which included working on the Human Genome Project. Kristie eventually came to realize that winemaking was her true calling and after working as operations manager and assistant winemaker at an award-winning East Bay winery, she started Tessier in 2009.

Tessier is the result of Kristie’s passion for the art and science of winemaking. She began handcrafting small lots of Pinot Noir and has added Grenache, Pinot Gris, Cabernet Franc, Gamay Noir, Riesling, Syrah and Mourvedre. Kristie’s appreciation of French wines — especially those from Burgundy and the Loire and Rhone valleys — has shaped her winemaking choices.

With a background in microbiology, Kristie is fascinated by the cycle of life; each vintage of Tessier wines captures and reflects one year in the lives of the vineyards she works with. She sources high-quality fruit from a strong network of farmers in the Anderson Valley, Santa Cruz Mountains, Arroyo Seco, and El Dorado foothills. She then uses minimal-interventionist winemaking techniques to showcase the unique characteristics of the grapes and the vineyards. For Kristie, sustainability is a priority — not only with the vineyards’ farming practices, but also by having long-term relationships with her growers and customers. These small production wines, an annual production of 1400 cases, get unparalleled attention.