I almost purchased 3 immediately until I started reading the comments. I thought this was the Marsanne…oops… My wife is a white fan (Yay Sauv Blanc…Boo Chardonnay), and we loved the Marsanne from the mixed case. I’m not familiar with Rousanne. Where does it fall on the spectrum of Sauv Blanc (Hooray!) to Chardonnay (Boo Hoo)? Thanks
Pulled the trigger on one. I had to try something from Wellington since everyone only says positive things.
I’ve never had the Rousanne – any recommended food pairings?
The vineyards are listed in the wine specs, and I talked about them a bit in the vintner’s voicemail. About half is from Estate grapes and the other half from Saralee’s Vineyard in the cool Western corner of the Russian River Valley. I believe Saralee’s Vineyard has the oldest planting of Roussanne in Sonoma County, more or less planted at my behest. At the time, I don’t think I had ever tasted a California Roussanne because there weren’t any.
Our Estate Vineyard produces very rich, full-bodied Roussanne with lots of peach and citrus character. Saralee’s Rousanne tends to be a little leaner, with more floral character, pear and tropical fruit aromas. The two complement each other quite well.
I live an hour or so away from your winery (bay area) and the weather has been cold and wet this spring. Sunday we had am rains, then a nice afternoon until an ice cold rain blew thru. Odd year.
Because Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc are the two most well known white varietals, I’ve been asked this very question before. Both of the aforementioned come in many shapes and sizes. Both region and winemaking style result in large variation, and overlap between the two varietals as far as body, acid, perception of sweetness are concerned. If your benchmarks were Chablis for Chardonnay and a ripe, barrel fermented Sauvignon blanc such as Selene (Napa) or Haut Brion (Bordeaux), you might say Chardonnay is lean and crisp and SB is viscous and heavy.
Enough digression. Our Roussanne is similar to our Marsanne in weight and texture. It tends to be a little more tart than the Marsanne, giving a bit less of a sweet impression (they’re both dry, the “sweetness” comes from alcohol). My standard answer to the Chard / SB comparison is that it fits somewhere in between what most people expect from those two wines. In the case of our SB and Chardonnay, it’s closer to the Chardonnay in texture (our Chardonnay is on the crisp / tart side for a California Chardonnay - not an oak and butter bomb).
The correct answer is yes: Glen Ellen doesn’t make a Roussanne, and as noted above, PW hasn’t entered his in any competitions. 0=0.
Just another note on the Chardonnay (Boo Hoo) comment: Chardonnay is the most popular white varietal for good reason. Greatness leads to imitation, so oceans of Chardonnay have been planted in locations where they don’t produce distinctive wine. To make up for lack of character, many producers (especially the large brands) use lots of oak, mlf and residual sugar (eg KJ Vintner’s Select). Many people change their tune when given the opportunity to taste a great white Burgundy.
Great with most cheeses. Should (I’m a vegetarian) go well with a wide variety of fish & fowl, depending on the sauce. Any time you would use a white, but don’t want / need the bracing acidity of a Chablis or lean Sauvignon blanc.
Peter, Thanks for the great info. (BTW, I also loved the 06 Meeks Hilltop Zin from the mixed case. Super delicious. Haven’t had the cab or merlot yet. Wife loved the SB an Marsanne)
At work, we have a regular client named Roxanne. Any time some one mentions her name, some one - usually several some ones - feels the need to imitate Sting. You know which one, the really throaty, hoarse ‘RoOOOAAAACKZanne’ one.
More on topic, I would be remiss not to try an exciting varietal (aren’t they all) from a reputable winery. And remember: with the financial system nearing collapse, these could be very effectively used for bartering.
This is so serendipitous. I just poured my last glass of this wine, last night, from the Feb case offering and was so sad. I had saved this bottle as it is one of the best whites I’ve had. I’m a red drinker and try to like whites and have a few I like and this is one on the top of my list.
I drank it alone without food so can’t recommend a pairing. I like it as a “I’m-home-from-work-but-not-ready-to-make-dinner-yet-so-leave-me-alone-while-I-sit-outside, listen-to-birds-and-de-stress” wine. It is a good medium bodied wine with a nice yellow color and not sweet but the sweet aromas might fool you. I’m sorry I’m not used to describing wine but I recommend it and am definitely pushing the big button NOW.
Peter,
Have you ever considered doing a white rhone style blend? It seems the only grape your missing is viognier.
My wife has really enjoyed both your Marsanne and Roussanne and I am of course considering this woot.
WD, any idea when Summer Shipping will show up? It’s been up and down in temps lately here in SoCal, but was wondering.
Info on Summer Shipping. Basically, for $2 more (so instead of $5 shipping, it will be $7 shipping), we get more assurance of a safe delivery during hot months.
We bottled a Viognier from the 1994 through 2002 vintages, trying 3 different vineyards in the process. Although the wine sold well, I was never completely happy with the results. I tried both warm and very cool vineyard sites, but there always seemed to be problems with uneven ripening, high alcohol and difficult fermentations. We do grow some Viognier here, and use some of it for co-fermentation with our Estate Syrah. The balance is fermented by itself and used for blending. It has found its way, in small amounts, into our Sauvignon blanc, our Marsanne, or our Chardonnay in various vintages.
We did a white Rhone style, non-varietal blend in the 2000 vintage and called it Cotes de Sonoma blanc. It was 71% Roussanne, 23% Marsanne and 6% Viognier, was delicious, and won double gold and best of class (Rhone whites) at the San Francisco International Wine Competition. Unfortunately it was very hard to sell; all our brokers and distributors told me it was difficult enough to sell obscure varietals like Marsanne and Roussanne and impossible to sell non-varietals from those varieties. Since then we have blended some Marsanne into the Roussanne or vice versa on occasion, but always at less than 25% so as to maintain varietalo status.
Got this the last around. I found it had an odd taste and sharpness I did not care for.
I had never had a Roussane B4,so mebbe my palate was not ready for the taste. X
Easy, easy purchase. Peter’s Rhone whites are a no-brainer for me whenever they’re up here or whenever I stop in at the winery.
And at this price, I almost feel like I’m robbing him.
Tell you what, to assuage my gilt over this ridiculously low price, if you give me another bottle of Dr. Durif, I’ll pay twice as much for this :-).
Last time I asked, the general consensus was that it normally starts in June. Until then, I’ll save some money on wine purchases 
You need a Zin splitter?
This is good, if not something I was familiar with, and it takes me a while to get used to new styles. Whoever said it starts liike a rich chard and then… flues away is about right. Good one for having with weighty fish or chicken stews too, I’d say! I can’t get any this time, but for a weighty interesting white you can’t go too wrong!
I still have the Roussanne from the mixed case to drink, plus one of the 08s, so enough for now, but for anyone looking for good whites for dinner this summer, I’d trust this offering… whichever style of chard or SB you like! This man is the most open-minded and versatile winemaker I’ve met.
This is cheaper than the previous Roussanne only offer: 4 for $50 instead of 3 for $43!
The Links missed out posting the Last Wellington Roussanne Offering (08) from last October (and followed by the December wootoff offering, which discuss this wine’s 08 incarnation exclusively.
Be open to a new (yet very traditional!) wine variety and have a go!
EDIT: Yay bottom!