A Walla Walla Carmenère for Our Walla Walla Home
For a little while now, Bartholomew Winery has been able to call Walla Walla home. Located at 12 N. 2nd Avenue, in the heart of downtown, our tasting room has been welcomed by the surrounding community of wine lovers.
What better way to honor that welcome than with a wine grown in Walla Walla? And for Bartholomew, that wine could only be Carmenère.
Full Circle
To understand this release, we have to return to a particular vineyard.
In 2018 and 2019, we produced single-vineyard Carmenère from Seven Hills Vineyard in the Walla Walla Valley. Those wines were well received, and the new 2022 Walla Walla Carmenère brings us back to the very same block.
But the story begins even earlier.
Bart’s first taste of commercially produced Washington Carmenère came from Seven Hills Vineyard. It was one of the early experiences that showed him what this little-known Bordeaux variety could become in Washington.
Years later, the opportunity to work with that fruit returned.
“When the vineyard manager called and asked if I would be interested in purchasing some, I jumped at the chance. The block she offered was the same block I had tasted many years ago.”
—Bart
After the success of our earlier Seven Hills bottlings, it felt inevitable that this Carmenère would eventually return.
A Vineyard Worth Showcasing
Part of what makes this fruit deserving of its own bottle is its expressive aroma. Fresh berries and spice lead into the dark-fruit, peppery, savory and herbal character that makes Carmenère so distinctive.
On the palate, the wine is smooth, with medium tannin, balanced acidity and a long finish. It carries fruit and savory complexity at the same time without allowing either side to overwhelm the other.
Compared with our bolder Red Mountain Carmenère, the Walla Walla expression is softer and more aromatic. It shows another side of the same grape.
The vineyard’s mature vines also contribute to its identity. At more than 20 years old, these vines are well established in their surroundings. Older vines frequently produce fewer, smaller clusters, which can give the resulting fruit greater concentration. Their long history in one place can also provide a more consistent and revealing expression of the vineyard.
Older vines do not automatically make better wine, but when a strong site, careful farming and mature vines come together, the results can be remarkable.
Capturing a Sense of Place
Distinctive qualities can disappear when fruit is blended with grapes from other vineyards or when winemaking choices overpower the character of the site. Bottling this fruit on its own seemed like the right choice.
This is what winemakers mean when they talk about terroir: the combined influence of climate, soil, elevation, vineyard location and human decisions on the wine produced there. It is not any one feature of the vineyard, but everything working together.
At Seven Hills, heat, soil, elevation and attentive vineyard management combine to create an expression of Carmenère unlike any other in our lineup.
Waiting Until the Last Possible Moment
Carmenère is already a late-ripening grape, and the 2022 vintage developed later than usual. Rather than harvesting according to a normal calendar, Bart waited until the last possible moment to pick the fruit.
That decision matters with Carmenère. Ripeness influences the grape’s tannin as well as the balance between its fruit, pepper, herbal and savory characteristics. Picking too early can emphasize its greener side; allowing it sufficient time to mature can reveal a broader and more integrated range of flavors.
After harvest, the wine spent 18 months in barrel with 30% new American oak, followed by more than two years of bottle aging before release. The result is a Carmenère that is ready to drink now while retaining the savory character that allows the variety to age gracefully.
Bart recently tasted it beside a 100-point California wine:
“The Carmenère didn’t disappoint. I was pleasantly surprised.”
Grown in Walla Walla, Poured in Walla Walla
Walla Walla already produces some of the country’s most respected Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The 2022 Walla Walla Carmenère demonstrates that another Bordeaux variety belongs in that conversation.
For Bartholomew, the release also brings together several parts of our story: the vineyard behind Bart’s first taste of Washington Carmenère, the block behind our 2018 and 2019 bottlings, the grape that has come to define our winery, and our new home in downtown Walla Walla.
This wine has traveled a long way to arrive back where it began. Now it can be poured only a short distance from where the grapes were grown, and if Bart gets his wish, the first glass will leave you wanting a second.
The 2022 Walla Walla Carmenère adds another piece of evidence to our longstanding belief: Washington may be one of the finest places in the world to grow this variety.
