Our 2017 Tannat from Clarksburg, CA is a classic rendition of New World Tannat. The grapes are grown in a sub-region with hot days and cold, breezy nights. It is generous, bright, robust, complex and well-structured. The nose is pure, showing ripe blueberries and violet flower along with additional savory notes of black olives and cured meats. The palate is voluptuous, fresh, juicy with silky tannins, and a long finish. This is a great wine to pair with lasagna, venison, Boeuf Bourguignon, eggplant parmesan, cassoulet and juicy burgers.
Winemaking
Vineyard: Single Vineyard, Certified Sustainable, Clarskburg, CA AVA. Three days cold soaked, fermented at 78-85 degrees F, aged for 18 months in 35% new French oak barrels (500 l).
Tannat’s roots reach through the same French countryside as Yannick’s. As one of the Sud Ouest’s hallmark red beauties, it hails from the Madiran region near the Pyrenées mountains. It was the first red grape variety with which Yannick made wine as an intern winemaker in France.
This wine is great to enjoy and share all year long and especially now while spending more time at home with loved ones!
Winery: Y. Rousseau Wines
Owners: Yannick Rousseau
Founded: 2007
Location: Napa Valley, St. Helena
Y. Rousseau Wines is a dream that began long ago in the South-West of France and continues to grow and evolve today. Yannick Rousseau, French native, founder and winemaker, followed his heart and passion for winemaking all the way to the Napa Valley where he met his Texan-born wife, Susan. The two of them bring their combined entrepreneurial savvy to embrace the ebbs and flows of running a family winery with the legacy of their racines, hospitable style, and discriminating artisanship.
Yannick’s reputation has been made not by following in anyone’s particular footsteps but rather by taking what he has learned from great mavericks and integrating it into what he discovers to be true. His history of working with grape varietals from the Southwest of France is well known. Now, he carries forward his winemaking mission still embracing Colombard, Tannat and other favored varietals and blending them to create revived, and even edge-bending wines.
"Why are my wines different? I’m always thinking about food when I make wine: It is very important for a Frenchman that a wine pairs well with his repas!”
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
@karenhynes Unfortunately, IL is requiring a Direct To Consumer permit that is quite onerous. We wish you could use another shipping address maybe of a friend or family. best
If the winemaker is on I’d be interested to understand how this compares with the 2013 Reserve Tannat that was offered last year from a tasting & aging profile. Also what is the difference between the reserve and regular Tannat? Thanks in advance!
Bonjour! In many ways the 2013 and 2017 vintage are quite similar in style because of the same growing conditions in Spring & Summer, both hot vintages, both Tannat came from single vineyard, and perfectly ripe Tannats. The difference between the Reserve and “regular” Tannat is that I use more new oak in the Reserve (70% new) and smaller size barrels. Also the Reserve Tannat is 100% Tannat, this one is 90% (+ 10% of Cab).
Bonjour! In many ways the 2013 and 2017 vintage are quite similar in style because of the same growing conditions in Spring & Summer, both hot vintages, both Tannat came from single vineyard, and perfectly ripe Tannats. The difference between the Reserve and “regular” Tannat is that I use more new oak in the Reserve (70% new) and smaller size barrels. Also the Reserve Tannat is 100% Tannat, this one is 90% (+ 10% of Cab). I would that amongst all our Tannat customers, we find that 50% “prefer” The Musketeer and the other 50% the regular Tannat.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2017 Y. Rousseau. Tannat - $40 = 16.66%
The 2013 Tannat ‘the musketeer’ has been excellent. Im glad i bought a case of it. It looks like these grapes are from a different vineyard and region, also with less oak and aging so i dont think you can really compare. But same winemaker so i Would bet its good! Might have to get a few just to find out…
I want to start this review by telling you all that I was very fortunate to be a lab rat on this wine, it is fantastic.
Last week I was in the North Georgia mountains visiting family and I hit a couple of vineyards there. While picturesque, the wines there don’t do a whole lot for me. So, as you can imagine, I was in need of a really good wine to make up for that. I’ve never tried Tannat before so I was excited to get the notification from Casemates. The bottle arrived yesterday and I promptly put it into the wine fridge so it would be cool for dinner.
The bottle is very regal in appearance; I love the artwork on the label. As you can see from the offering, the label is simply a feather, the name of the vineyard and winemaker in simple black print with the year in red. I wish more vineyards took this approach with their bottles, sometimes simple is best.
Let’s get to the good stuff. I found the cork to have a nice stain on the end when I opened it. Immediately I smelled the wine, it has a nice, deep aroma. It smelled almost like Chianti before I even poured a glass which surprised me. A small pour into my well used Casemates glass revealed some more notes. First the color. The wine has a very rich, but young, color. Dark, translucent and inky. This is what good wine should look like. The nose evolved from Chianti to a nice mixture of earth, berries, and a bit heat from the alcohol. A couple more swirls and perhaps a hint of something astringent. I was almost transported back in time to a few tours of the Chiantigiana from years past when I was smelling this one. My mouth was watering for a taste after a few deep sniffs.
I paired the wine with a variety of Italian last night. Tossed salad with balsamic dressing, Spaghetti Bolognese, Chicken Rollatini with spinach, and Zoodles with Marinara. This is a big, bold and complex wine and it paired really well with dinner. Did I mention I found this wine to be complex? First taste was a hint of sweet raspberry which immediately mellowed out to smooth tannins, some bramble and some tartness with a nice backdrop of smooth alcohol. This is a bold wine but one that allows you to taste a lot of different subtleties. It would go great with steak, bison, short ribs, maybe even duck.
I was three sips in before I realized I might have overchilled this one. My wine fridge is set on 55 degrees, I think maybe 60 degrees or even room temperature is better. I decided I needed to let this one sit and open up a while. A couple hours after dinner I went for another small glass. The wine really benefitted from being a bit warmer. The sweetness upon the first taste disappeared, instead I got berries, the nice tartness with a bit of earth, all backed with that nice backdrop of smooth alcohol. Tonight is steak night and I saved half the bottle for dinner so I am looking forward to enjoying the rest with a meatier pairing.
I’ve never had Tannat before and I am glad I was a Rat on this one. It is a fabulous wine. If I had to guess this is a $45 bottle at retail so maybe $125 at a restaurant. Even though I am overflowing, I am in for a case.
Thanks to Casemates for the opportunity to sample another great wine and offer some feedback. My Wife and I were happy to receive a red wine from Y. Rousseau in California. Upon inspection we noticed it was made from the grape Tannat. We haven’t actually had a wine with only Tannat, usually it is something that has perhaps been blended with other grapes. We were excited to try something new, especially coming from a winemaker like Mr. Rousseau who brings French wine making experience to Napa, which often makes for a unique balance of the two styles.
We open and poured immediately the 2017 Tannat and noticed a rich beautiful dark purple, almost resembling the juice of fresh muddled blackberry.
On the nose we got high alcohol, maybe some light blueberry, but not much else. The wine was powerful, with unripe blackberry up-front, and a mineral bitter middle. When I say bitter, think “European apéritif”. The finish also staid on the middle of the tongue as the bitter minerality evolved and was different than at first. The very high tannic quality lasted throughout the middle and end.
My Wife, ever thinking of food pairing, wished that we had a rich, buttery, dinner to counteract the powerful tannins. Think beef bourguignon, or a decadent roast.
My initial thoughts were that the wine could have used more aging in order to balance some of the tannin and tame the wine, however, after we tasted the Tannat and wrote down our thoughts I looked up the tech sheet and was surprised to find that actually the wine was aged for 18-months in French oak barrels and 35% of them new.
All in all, this was a quality wine that we believe would age very well and could probably use a little more time in the bottle, in our humble opinion. As this does not scream “Summer wine!”, perhaps store this until a cool fall evening with a great dinner.
Upon reading the winery’s web site, Mr. Rousseau mentions that he first imagines of the food pairing when creating a wine. I think if we were to pair this with a meal, the wine would have showed more depth and structure.
We’re looking forward to aging this and and trying it in the future. We’re also looking forward to trying the winery’s Merlot and Cabernet offerings.
P.S. Although the picture looks as if it was taken by a branding company, my Wife actually put together the shot. Reminds her of a French picnic.
Cheers everyone!
[2]:
![My Wife took this picture.][2]
@yannickrousseau
Welcome back!
Although I’m still waiting for @rjquillin to figure out where last year’s case of this went, I’m trying to understand how Tannat would do as a variety grown in Mendocino vs Clarksburg. Alder Springs Vineyard is about 8 miles or so form the coast in northern Mendocino County (hell, it’s pretty close to the Lost Coast!) while Clarksburg is on the Sacramento River delta. The climates couldn’t be more different. I’d guess that the latter is much closer to the Mediterranean climate of Madiran while the other gets a lot less ripe.
How do the different vineyards and AVAs inform this vs the other bottling? Would you ever blend the two vineyards into a single wine?
@klezman Since I started making Tannat in the US (2011), my goal has always been to make two Tannat: one to introduce american wine drinkers to Tannat and one to compete with the best Tannats in the world. As I have found different vineyards in Northern California (but not too many), I can tell that the Clarksburg Vineyard can produce excellent Tannat grapes because the farming is outstanding, the yield is as low as the best Tannat vineyards in the world and I apply my most authentic, traditional winemaking techniques. Blending the two vineyards is actually a great idea! It is something I might consider. Keep in mind that my goals are to make the best Tannat in the US and introduce Tannat to the american wine drinkers.
@yannickrousseau I definitely appreciate the goals there. I enjoyed a few bottles of Château Bouscassé and they are worthy of introduction to American audiences. But my question was more about the differences in the vineyards rather than their suitability.
@klezman Understood. In fact, the vineyards are quite different as far as: climate (colder and wetter for the Alder Springs Vyds - aka ASV), elevation (more than 2000’ elevation on the ASV) and the vineyards are quite similar as far as the clone selections and attention to details. I would say that the ASV Tannat would have more texture and structure on warm vintages but would be “lighter” on a colder vintage. The Clarksburg vineyard is very consistent and allows me to work with outstanding grapes year after year.
@klezman@Twich22 It is definitely the “american”, (should we say “northern California”) style of Tannat. That said, I don’t try to make a Tannat that would overripe, or jammy…my goal is to keep the texture and the earthiness of Tannat
Tasting Notes
Winemaking
Specs
Included in the Box
Price Comparison
$594 at Y. Rousseau for a Case without Tax
About The Winery
Winery: Y. Rousseau Wines
Owners: Yannick Rousseau
Founded: 2007
Location: Napa Valley, St. Helena
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Thursday, July 23rd - Monday, July 27th
Y. Rousseau Tannat
3 bottles for $59.99 $20/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $199.99 $16.67/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2017 Y. Rousseau Tannat
No IL.
Though I think IL is listed on their website as a ship-to state…
@karenhynes Unfortunately, IL is requiring a Direct To Consumer permit that is quite onerous. We wish you could use another shipping address maybe of a friend or family. best
@karenhynes Agree- hopefully IL will get on-board with a more interstate friendly environment. Sorry to miss this one!
@karenhynes
Minnesota isn’t on the list either, which is quite unusual. So at least you’re not alone…
If the winemaker is on I’d be interested to understand how this compares with the 2013 Reserve Tannat that was offered last year from a tasting & aging profile. Also what is the difference between the reserve and regular Tannat? Thanks in advance!
@StingingJ +1!
@StingingJ
Bonjour! In many ways the 2013 and 2017 vintage are quite similar in style because of the same growing conditions in Spring & Summer, both hot vintages, both Tannat came from single vineyard, and perfectly ripe Tannats. The difference between the Reserve and “regular” Tannat is that I use more new oak in the Reserve (70% new) and smaller size barrels. Also the Reserve Tannat is 100% Tannat, this one is 90% (+ 10% of Cab).
@StingingJ let me know if you have other questions.
@kasandrae @jrbw3 they are killing us up here with these ‘out of reach’ offers! I’ll just look away now…I’ve seen this one before, just never had any.
@ttboy23 I give up…
How does this compare to the musketeer?
@jaybird
Bonjour! In many ways the 2013 and 2017 vintage are quite similar in style because of the same growing conditions in Spring & Summer, both hot vintages, both Tannat came from single vineyard, and perfectly ripe Tannats. The difference between the Reserve and “regular” Tannat is that I use more new oak in the Reserve (70% new) and smaller size barrels. Also the Reserve Tannat is 100% Tannat, this one is 90% (+ 10% of Cab). I would that amongst all our Tannat customers, we find that 50% “prefer” The Musketeer and the other 50% the regular Tannat.
@yannickrousseau Is the write up wrong? It states it is 10% Syrah and not 10% Cab. Not that it matter since I bought a case. Just curious.
@danandlisa Good eye! It is 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Our previous vintage had some Syrah in it.
it’s just really good.
@Winedavid49 Thank you! I am very happy with that vintage.
CNY/Syracuse Casemates:
I’d really like to have half a case of this…
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2017 Y. Rousseau. Tannat - $40 = 16.66%
The 2013 Tannat ‘the musketeer’ has been excellent. Im glad i bought a case of it. It looks like these grapes are from a different vineyard and region, also with less oak and aging so i dont think you can really compare. But same winemaker so i Would bet its good! Might have to get a few just to find out…
Fwiw i would definitely get this if i didnt have way too much wine and way too little money
Anybody from western Iowa, that wants to share a case?
$20/btl recently at reversewinesnob… fwiw…probably nothing…
@kaolis I saw that too, from Wine Country Connect!
I want to start this review by telling you all that I was very fortunate to be a lab rat on this wine, it is fantastic.
Last week I was in the North Georgia mountains visiting family and I hit a couple of vineyards there. While picturesque, the wines there don’t do a whole lot for me. So, as you can imagine, I was in need of a really good wine to make up for that. I’ve never tried Tannat before so I was excited to get the notification from Casemates. The bottle arrived yesterday and I promptly put it into the wine fridge so it would be cool for dinner.
The bottle is very regal in appearance; I love the artwork on the label. As you can see from the offering, the label is simply a feather, the name of the vineyard and winemaker in simple black print with the year in red. I wish more vineyards took this approach with their bottles, sometimes simple is best.
Let’s get to the good stuff. I found the cork to have a nice stain on the end when I opened it. Immediately I smelled the wine, it has a nice, deep aroma. It smelled almost like Chianti before I even poured a glass which surprised me. A small pour into my well used Casemates glass revealed some more notes. First the color. The wine has a very rich, but young, color. Dark, translucent and inky. This is what good wine should look like. The nose evolved from Chianti to a nice mixture of earth, berries, and a bit heat from the alcohol. A couple more swirls and perhaps a hint of something astringent. I was almost transported back in time to a few tours of the Chiantigiana from years past when I was smelling this one. My mouth was watering for a taste after a few deep sniffs.
I paired the wine with a variety of Italian last night. Tossed salad with balsamic dressing, Spaghetti Bolognese, Chicken Rollatini with spinach, and Zoodles with Marinara. This is a big, bold and complex wine and it paired really well with dinner. Did I mention I found this wine to be complex? First taste was a hint of sweet raspberry which immediately mellowed out to smooth tannins, some bramble and some tartness with a nice backdrop of smooth alcohol. This is a bold wine but one that allows you to taste a lot of different subtleties. It would go great with steak, bison, short ribs, maybe even duck.
I was three sips in before I realized I might have overchilled this one. My wine fridge is set on 55 degrees, I think maybe 60 degrees or even room temperature is better. I decided I needed to let this one sit and open up a while. A couple hours after dinner I went for another small glass. The wine really benefitted from being a bit warmer. The sweetness upon the first taste disappeared, instead I got berries, the nice tartness with a bit of earth, all backed with that nice backdrop of smooth alcohol. Tonight is steak night and I saved half the bottle for dinner so I am looking forward to enjoying the rest with a meatier pairing.
I’ve never had Tannat before and I am glad I was a Rat on this one. It is a fabulous wine. If I had to guess this is a $45 bottle at retail so maybe $125 at a restaurant. Even though I am overflowing, I am in for a case.
@GatorFL Thank you for the report. I too prefer a simple, elegant label.
/giphy yellow-lovely-cheese
/giphy present-habitual-gelato
Thanks to Casemates for the opportunity to sample another great wine and offer some feedback. My Wife and I were happy to receive a red wine from Y. Rousseau in California. Upon inspection we noticed it was made from the grape Tannat. We haven’t actually had a wine with only Tannat, usually it is something that has perhaps been blended with other grapes. We were excited to try something new, especially coming from a winemaker like Mr. Rousseau who brings French wine making experience to Napa, which often makes for a unique balance of the two styles.
We open and poured immediately the 2017 Tannat and noticed a rich beautiful dark purple, almost resembling the juice of fresh muddled blackberry.
On the nose we got high alcohol, maybe some light blueberry, but not much else. The wine was powerful, with unripe blackberry up-front, and a mineral bitter middle. When I say bitter, think “European apéritif”. The finish also staid on the middle of the tongue as the bitter minerality evolved and was different than at first. The very high tannic quality lasted throughout the middle and end.
My Wife, ever thinking of food pairing, wished that we had a rich, buttery, dinner to counteract the powerful tannins. Think beef bourguignon, or a decadent roast.
My initial thoughts were that the wine could have used more aging in order to balance some of the tannin and tame the wine, however, after we tasted the Tannat and wrote down our thoughts I looked up the tech sheet and was surprised to find that actually the wine was aged for 18-months in French oak barrels and 35% of them new.
All in all, this was a quality wine that we believe would age very well and could probably use a little more time in the bottle, in our humble opinion. As this does not scream “Summer wine!”, perhaps store this until a cool fall evening with a great dinner.
Upon reading the winery’s web site, Mr. Rousseau mentions that he first imagines of the food pairing when creating a wine. I think if we were to pair this with a meal, the wine would have showed more depth and structure.
We’re looking forward to aging this and and trying it in the future. We’re also looking forward to trying the winery’s Merlot and Cabernet offerings.
P.S. Although the picture looks as if it was taken by a branding company, my Wife actually put together the shot. Reminds her of a French picnic.
Cheers everyone!
[2]:
![My Wife took this picture.][2]
@lastgoodbye Love the pic and the food pairing suggestions. Thanks for the report
@lastgoodbye Love the pic and the food pairing suggestions. Thanks for the report
@WCCWineGirl Great! Thanks!!
Bummer, first time I’ve noticed an offer I’d jump on that’s not available in MN.
@PaulW I agree. I was going to split with my best bud, but can’t…
Only did a 2 pack on the Musketeer and so in for a case here
/giphy weak-mousy-shade
@yannickrousseau
Welcome back!
Although I’m still waiting for @rjquillin to figure out where last year’s case of this went, I’m trying to understand how Tannat would do as a variety grown in Mendocino vs Clarksburg. Alder Springs Vineyard is about 8 miles or so form the coast in northern Mendocino County (hell, it’s pretty close to the Lost Coast!) while Clarksburg is on the Sacramento River delta. The climates couldn’t be more different. I’d guess that the latter is much closer to the Mediterranean climate of Madiran while the other gets a lot less ripe.
How do the different vineyards and AVAs inform this vs the other bottling? Would you ever blend the two vineyards into a single wine?
@klezman Since I started making Tannat in the US (2011), my goal has always been to make two Tannat: one to introduce american wine drinkers to Tannat and one to compete with the best Tannats in the world. As I have found different vineyards in Northern California (but not too many), I can tell that the Clarksburg Vineyard can produce excellent Tannat grapes because the farming is outstanding, the yield is as low as the best Tannat vineyards in the world and I apply my most authentic, traditional winemaking techniques. Blending the two vineyards is actually a great idea! It is something I might consider. Keep in mind that my goals are to make the best Tannat in the US and introduce Tannat to the american wine drinkers.
@klezman @yannickrousseau so this is your intro to americans tannat?
@yannickrousseau I definitely appreciate the goals there. I enjoyed a few bottles of Château Bouscassé and they are worthy of introduction to American audiences. But my question was more about the differences in the vineyards rather than their suitability.
@klezman Understood. In fact, the vineyards are quite different as far as: climate (colder and wetter for the Alder Springs Vyds - aka ASV), elevation (more than 2000’ elevation on the ASV) and the vineyards are quite similar as far as the clone selections and attention to details. I would say that the ASV Tannat would have more texture and structure on warm vintages but would be “lighter” on a colder vintage. The Clarksburg vineyard is very consistent and allows me to work with outstanding grapes year after year.
@klezman @Twich22 It is definitely the “american”, (should we say “northern California”) style of Tannat. That said, I don’t try to make a Tannat that would overripe, or jammy…my goal is to keep the texture and the earthiness of Tannat
@WCCWineGirl
In for a case! Happy FL made the shipping list this time didn’t on the reserve. Looking forward to trying!
Denver area 'Mates - I have a case coming this direction and have 3 bottles available if anyone would like to join in on a split…let me know!
is there a link to ALL of the soundcloud clips? I LOVE listening to them and want to catch up on the ones I missed. So much to learn!
@connorbush You could just go through all the past deals
https://casemates.com/forum?category=deals
Who can resist a palindrome? (Tannat, spelled the same left to right, or right to left.)
Passion, experience, and knowledge are added, so it seems to be a good bet.
(May have had this varietal years ago, in Spain, so it may be a trip down memory lane.)
/giphy incognito-legible-yam
