Martin Woods
- 200-400 Cases Micro Lots from Cool Sites
- Burgundian in Approach
- A Focus on the Specific Terroir of Each Site
- Stunning Levels of Precision (Works Great With Dry Riesling)
- Not Trying to Please the Average American Palate AT ALL
- They all lasted 6 days OPEN
2019 Martin Woods Riesling "Hyland Vineyard"
- Oregon Grosses Gewachs
- 49 years Old, Own Rooted Vines (Old for Riesling)
- Lasted 5-7 Days Open
- Easily a 20 Year Wine
- Fascinating Nose
- Fig, Petrol, Apple Spice Cake
- Gorgeous, Penetrating Deep Minerality
- Compact and Precise
- Palate: Very Dense and Super Elegant
- Peach Pit, Apricot Pit, Apple Skin
- So Mineral
- Like Top End Pfalz (Klundt, Burklin-Wolf, Rebholz, Christmann) Wine Made in America
- Stunning Linearity - So Precise
- One of the Most Serious American White Wines I've Had
- That Much Better Than The 2018
2018 Martin Woods Riesling Hyland Vineyard “ Noble Rot - Old Vine Coury Selection.”
- Only Offer of This Wine Anywhere Ever!/Not Even Sold At Cellar Door
- On a Par with the Best German Sweet Wines!
- Only 36 Bottles Will Be Sold
- Nose is Just Sickness
- Insane 9.8 Nose
- Sweet Citrus, Sweet Apricot, Sweet Guava, Sweet Pineapple
- Tangerine and Blood Orange
- Canned Peach Juice, Sweet Apricots
- Insane Minerality
- Gorgeous Sweetness
- Palate
- Rich and Viscous
- Enormous Concentration and Uncommon Depth
- Nimble and Pretty
- Insane Inner Mouth Aromas
- Terrific Acidity
- Savory Element on the Finish and Finishes Dry-Ish and Mineral
"I'm making wines for the geeks, the people in the trade, the winemakers, the people who love, appreciate and really get wine." - Evan Martin
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It’s true. Evan Martin has made as profound a Riesling as I’ve ever tasted that is not from Germany. This is even better than his insane 2018. More depth. More nimble. More length. More complexity. How does he do it?
With today's offer we are entering a whole new world. I will be offering a wine I never ever in a million years thought I'd offer because most of what I've tasted, and I've definitely tasted more of this type of wine than domestic Pinot because people will bring out this category for me to see what I think because my reputation precedes me. What is this category of wine I'd never ever sell in a million years and am selling today because the wine gave me no choice? It's Oregon Grosses Gewachs Riesling. Yes that's what I'm calling it. Because that's what the wine is. It's Grand Cru American Riesling from McMinnville,Oregon. I know I know, it's crazy.
Why would I need to offer a dry Riesling from Oregon, when I've got one of the best portfolios of dry Riesling in the country from Germany? Because Evan Martin of Martin Woods winery is a genius and made an Oregon GG Riesling so profound, so singular and so distinctive that not only have I never tasted anything not like it it is easily one of the greatest value Grand Cru Rieslings I've ever had. Before I get to the wine I need to let you know my position on domestic Riesling, maybe make it all dry Riesling that is not German.
The Wines
So, knowing all of this you'd have to think the 2019 Martin Woods Riesling "Hyland Vineyard" for $34.99 a bottle on a 4-pack is a pretty special wine. Yes it is. It so is. I'm going to refer to it as Oregon Grosses Gewachs as that is what it is. The wine is incredible and lasted 5-7 days open as all of Evan's wines do and got better and better. This is easily a 20 year wine. I have no doubt in my mind. The vines are 49 years old and own rooted. One of the first dozen or so vineyards that were planted to Riesling in Oregon. It's aged on it lees its whole life and is firmly in the GG style. This wine needs major air - 1/2 hours - before it really gets going. Oh man and when it does.
Fascinating nose. Fig, petrol, apple spice cake and gorgeous, penetrating deep minerality. Really really aromatic, compact and precise. After air it really wows. What an exuberant nose of citrus, honey, sweet pink grapefruit, amazing depth and dripping with purity and vividness. Citrus oil and dazzling minerality. American Grosses Gewachs to the max here. Much more open and less shy than the 18 was at this stage. Wet earth, wet rocks as well. Enormously complex. Jellied citrus as well. Wow Nose has bigger fruit after 6 hours of air and it turns a bit tropical but has a massive citrus underbelly. Tangelo and blood orange abound. Stunning nose.
Palate is bone dry, very dense and super elegant. It toes that fine line with purity and elegance. For being so dense it certainly is super refined. Juicy and lovely with stunningly pure fruit and absolute maniacal length. Palate is full of citrus but also has a seriously stoney base. So juicy, luscious and straight as an arrow. Amazing focus and linearity with insane confectionery fruit flavors. So balanced and stunning purity. What a wine. Sickness. What a finish. The balance here is perfect and the finish lasts a minute! This has such classy citrus elements on the finish that dance and echo for minutes. Peach pit, apricot pit, some apple skin take over the palate. Really good, dense structure and acid. But not in your face. Terrific minerality - almost like wines of the Pfalz. The energy on this wine could power a small house. Yet it has this incredible refinement and subtlety. It's so subtle and juicy. This is terrific. Very serious and deep. The linearity and straightness of this wine is incredible. This has it all. Besides being so so delicious this has the depth and structure to age gloriously. Better than the 18. A sick value and I gave it a 9.5 on Delectable compared to a 9.4 for the 18.
What sap and length! Best domestic Riesling I've ever had.
On Day 2 and 3 it was even better than this previous description. There is more fruit that is so lovely and detailed with skeletal precise minerality, peach skin and tangerine. Dry as dry can be with awesome concentration, depth and purity. Elegant, complex and so so long. This is fantastic. So persistent. Wow. Fantastic inner mouth aromas. This will age for 20+ years and be at its best in 3-5 years.
Up next I’ve got a very very very special wine and not much of it. The 2018 Martin Woods Riesling Hyland Vineyard “ Noble Rot - Old Vine Coury Selection for $45.99 NET for a 375 ML. This is a BA style wine and only 300 bottles are produced. This wine is insane. A magical elixir that just stunned me. This, for now is a Fass Selections exclusive and is not even sold at the cellar door. I opened a Martin Mullen 2018 Trarbacher Huhnerberg Auslese next to this wine and the Martin Woods easily outlclassed it. My jaw hit the ground.
The nose is just sickness. Endlessly complex and uncommon depth and just perfect clean botrytis. Wow. Wow. Wow. Insane 9.8 nose. Jumps out and grabs your nostrils. Canned peach juice, sweet apricots, insane minerality and gorgeous sweetness from the whole spectrum. Sweet citrus, sweet apricot, sweet guava, sweet pineapple. Stunning nose. Just freezes you. Tangerine and blood orange start to develop on the nose.
Palate is rich and viscous but fresh, energetic and incisive. So textured like icing on a cake and enormous concentration and uncommon depth. So nimble and pretty. So pure. The fruit matches the aromas. Stunning. Insane inner mouth aromas and terrific acidity and just endless depth. So sappy, viscous and long. Awesome structure. Equivalent to a German BA. Genius wine. Finest domestic sweet wine I’ve ever had. Like all elite sweet wines it has a savory element on the finish and finishes dry-ish and mineral. Stunning. Drink now through 2055. Whoever gets this is a lucky ducky,
The Back Story
A great customer who e-mailed me one day and said I have an Oregon producer that would be perfect for your portfolio. It caught me off guard. We are known for being only about European wines from 3 countries (4 if you include Switzerland). But I liked all the wines he bought. He was committed to a very particular style of wine that I love but is only part of what I like to drink. His palate is uncompromising. Lots of our Alto Piemonte , Valtellina and some Langhe, but more up North and his everyday wines were the underpriced and affordable but great bottlings which I love.
So now, after seeing what he drinks and combining that with being pitched an Oregon producer from this guy, I was more inclined to pursue it. Some people on this list are big time Oregon wine drinkers and champions and they also drink all the wines we sell so I'd always had that in my head that Oregon wine could be better now in the ten years since I tasted it last. Everywhere in the world there are great new winemakers popping up every day so why couldn't it happen in my own backyard?
Evan Martin
So I decided to talk to Evan Martin of Martin Woods winery in McMinnville Oregon about our company and find out about his wines. We linked up on a Saturday and chatted. I knew after that conversation that when I tasted the wines he was going to send me they were going to be special. Focused is the word I'd use to describe him. He has an almost zen-like focus on his craft plus an encyclopedic knowledge and memory. His recall of all the decisions about a wine through the entire cycle of vineyard growth and cellar management was eidetic.
The guy is uncompromising and he has a vision. He's worked at some of the top estates in Oregon including Belle Pente, a favorite of wine geeks everywhere.
2019 Martin Woods Riesling "Hyland Vineyard" - $36.99
($139.96 4-Pack)
2018 Martin Woods Riesling Hyland Vineyard “ Noble Rot -
Old Vine Coury Selection" (375ML) - $45.99 NET
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