Tannat Incoming

A little barrel sample of the 23 Tannat

We bottled our first varietal Tannat with the 2015 vintage and the wine has been a steady part of our lineup ever since. Deep and dark with incredible fruit and a velvety mouthfeel, the Volatus Tannat, also known as the Bloody Well Right, breaks the mold and is normally delicious to drink 16-18 months after vintage. For comparison, most Tannat and blends from southwest France take anywhere from 5-9 years to be ready. With that said, the Tus Tannat will continue to age perfectly in bottle and some of our vertical tastings from past vintages show amazing development for the wine. The only real problem we have had with Tannat is we tend to run out often.

Since 2015, we sourced the fruit for the Bloody Well Right from two vineyards in Paso Robles’ El Pomar district. As Victoria would tell you, I am very particular with vineyards and it is difficult to quickly add Tannat sources unless I can vet them and the resultant wines. It took many years but with the 2023 vintage we added two additional sources and are able to, finally, increase the case production while keeping the same quality and flavor profile.

Tomorrow evening I will start racking the 2023 wine from our mostly Claude Gillet new French oak barrels in preparation for bottling the morning of the 29th. Before pulling the wine from the barrels, I will go through and taste each barrel to make sure each is ready to be included in the blend. This is a critical step as once the barrels are emptied and combined there is no going back. Fortunately, I just tasted through these barrels about six weeks ago and they are all incredible. As many of you know, our basic policy here is if a barrel is not good enough it is not included. This is a high standar, but I cannot do it any other way.

I am very happy with the 2023 Bloody Well Right. It was a cool year after a very wet winter. The grapes enjoyed extensive hang time on the vine and ripened beautifully at the end of October. As is normal with our Tannat, the 23 is a big wine but balanced and very tasty. We should have some around the tasting room shortly after bottling. I will let everyone know when it is ready to go.

Fight’s On!

Bull Schmitt