2012 Villa Creek Willow Creek Cuvée
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Tasting notes
Made from 70% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre and 10% Syrah, the 2012 Willow Creek Cuvee is an up-front, perfumed and sweetly fruited effort that carries a serious wallop of tannin on the back end. Showing pretty mulled red fruits, licorice, toasted spice, violets and hints of dried flowers, it has medium to full-bodied richness, a silky, layered texture and high, slightly chewy tannin on the finish. I think the tannins will integrate nicely here with another year in bottle, but this will be something to watch going forward. Winemaker Cris Cherry continues to push the whole cluster and savory style in his wines, while not losing the core of fruit that the region is known for. These new releases all have rich, tannic profiles that benefit from air, and will be even better in another year or two. In addition, I was able to do a retrospective of Cris’s Garnacha and High Road James Berry Vineyard, but wasn’t able to get those reviews into this report. Those reviews will be published in separate article at a later date. Tel. (805) 238-7145; www.villacreekwine.com
Critic scores
Average Score
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Jeb Dunnuck, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 2012 Willow Creek Cuvee is striking. Dark red and black plum, leather, cloves, menthol, tobacco and sage are laced together in a juicy, resonant red with plenty of near and medium-term appeal. The 2012 is 70% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre and 10% Syrah, done with 75% whole clusters that are completely and beautifully integrated, aged mostly in neutral oak with 20% new barrels.