A relatively new winery, Bill and Tiki Spell founded Spell Estate in 2006, and produced their first vintage that next year. They focus on high quality Pinot Noir from a range of terroirs and their new releases has impressed. Head winemaker Andrew Berge was born in Germany and has a master’s degree from UC Davis in the Biological and Agricultural Engineering. He has a longstanding history in the wine industry, is a hugely talented winemaker. I admit that I had never sampled wines from this estate before but I was very impressed with what Berge did with their 2013 and 2014 wines. The cellaring ability of these wines is evident, as the structure suggests that these high quality Pinot Noirs will hold well for at least another decade.
I was particularly intrigued by their 2014 Spell ‘Russian River Valley’ Chardonnay (WWB, 91), sourced from the Russian River Valley and showed a beautiful array of aromatics and rich flavors, yet maintaining balance. Another great new release was the 2013 Spell 'Terra de Primissio Vineyard' Pinot Noir (WWB, 93). This wine had a tremendous range of fruit flavors and showcased the fantastic terroir of the vineyard. A more full-throttle but equally impressive Pinot Noir was the 2013 Spell 'Umino Vineyard' Pinot Noir (WWB, 93). This wine had a darker, more masculine style fruit profile and had lovely texture and minerality. Kudos to head winemaker Andew Berge as he is able to create a wonderful range of flavors and aromatics to his wines, while connecting with an old-world style mineral backbone. Look for these impressive new release wines at spellestate.com as these wines are not to be missed. Here are the great new releases from Spell:
2014 Spell 'Russian River Valley' Chardonnay- This wine has some creamy aromatics with creme brûlée, wild mushrooms, bananas foster and heavy whipping cream. This leads to flavors of orange creamcicle, lemon zest, Gala apple and brioche. Lovely balance with nice ripeness. Drink 2016-2022- 91
2014 Spell 'Nichole's Blend' Pinot Noir- This forward style wine opens with aromas of cherry cola, red raspberry, nutmeg and smoke. There are flavors of red cherry, dill, red raspberry and cola in this delicious, fruity style Pinot. Lovely weight here, with the right amount of stuffing and structure. Drink 2016-2022- 90
2014 Spell 'Weir Vineyard' Pinot Noir-This bottling has rather intense aromas of cedar, red raspberry and stew berry preserves. There are ripe flavors of black raspberry, blackberry pie, red cherry and guava puree. Lithe and delicious wine. Drink 2016-2024- 92
2013 Spell 'Umino Vineyard' Pinot Noir- The Pinot Noir has dense and earthy aromas of black truffle, anise, black cherry and ripe raspberry. This leads to ripe flavors of blackberry pie, cola, and black raspberry syrup. This is delicious and lively wine that has wonderful structure and mouthfeel. While this is hard to resist right now, it will cellar gracefully for at least another decade. Drink 2016-2027- 93
2013 Spell 'Terra de Primissio Vineyard' Pinot Noir- This impressive Pinot bottling begins with earthy aromas of first floor, Shitake mushroom, black cherry and cloves. This leads to flavors of roasted fennel, forest floor, cola and black cherry. Spell has crafted an impressive effort which has an impressive range of profiles. Drink 2016-2026- 93
2013 Spell 'Alder Springs Vineyard' Pinot Noir-This impressive bottling begins with bright aromas of red cherry, red raspberry, teaberry and cranberry. This leads to flavors of dill, sage, cran-cherry, pomegranate seed which cascades alongside lovely minerality. Drink 2016-2025- 92
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