2023 Reeve, Vermentino, Sonoma County.
Noah and Kelly Dorrance’s Dry Creek based Reeve wines are lovely California wines and their 2023s are stellar across the board, it was great to catch up briefly with Noah as he showed off his latest stuff at a portfolio tasting in San Francisco, with his new Vermentino putting on a delightful and refreshing performance. For this vintage Dorrance put his Vermentino together from three Sonoma County sites, including some estate Dry Creek fruit, that gives depth and ripe textural elements, the Las Brisas Vineyard, which always enhances the cool climate zesty and green essences in Vermentino and a western Sonoma site that adds mid palate complexity. This cool year 2023 really excites the palate with juicy citrusy lemon/lime, gooseberry, along with white peach and tart apple fruit, all accented by steely and stony notes, plus wild herbs, bitter almonds, white florals and zesty verbena. This brilliant effort adds an extra dimension with air and food which make it great for Summer quaffing as well as with a full meal, especially sea foods like steamed clams and or raw oysters. Vermentino looks to continue its run of success in California, with many fine efforts coming from many drastically different regions from cool to hot and from many exciting producers from Ryme to Tablas Creek, with the varietal being high in acid allowing it be grown in wide range of climates. This Reeve Vermentino embraces all those forces with its mix of terroirs, but the sunny warm Dry Creek and its stony volcanic soils providing some backbone, spice and opulence to the mix. This vintage, 93% Vermentino and intriguingly 7% Falanghina was fermented and aged in a combination of stainless, concrete egg and very neutral French oak barrels to achieve these thrilling results.
Reeve Wines, as mentioned in prior reviews, was founded by Noah and Kelly Dorrance, who hit the ground running with an all-star winemaking team that included Ross Cobb, of Cobb Wines and Katy Wilson of LaRue Winery and has kept getting better and better with each new set of releases with this 2023 collection being the best yet, especially Noah’s awesome Heinz Chardonnay, the Pinots and this brilliantly crisp Vermentino. Noah and Kelly have special love for Tuscany, where they got married, and in particular Cortona, which is home to one of Italy’s most intriguing wineries, d’Alessandro, and it inspired them to try their luck at Italian varietals like Sangiovese and Vermentino. I’ve been impressed with their versions, which usually feature a California twist and hope to show off a sense of place, with this Vermentino being a nice tribute to the Tuscan and Ligurian coastal styles with a crisp, mineral toned and salty charm and subtle richness, which this Mediterranean varietal is known for. Like I said, I really enjoyed all of the wines here at Reeve, this was a serious and delicious array of wines, which still has the talented hands of Katy Wilson guiding Noah’s stylish and desirable efforts. The winery based in Healdsburg is mostly focused on cooler hillside fruit and work with sustainable vineyards that provide grapes that excel in purity and vibrancy, which clearly shows in this set of 2023s. Noah’s early career in importing classic European wines also inspired and influenced his wines, with his wines going for restraint in alcohol and a light touch with oak use, things that make these Reeve wines very popular with Sommeliers, as they are food friendly and nicely balanced, as seen here, with this wine coming in at just 12.7% natural alcohol. So be sure to search out these Reeve wines, I’m sure you’ll find some of these small lot and hand crafted offering very compelling!
($38 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive