Ste. Michelle Wine Estates has announced a new project called Tenet Wines, a joint effort with Rhône winemakers Michel Gassier and Philippe Cambie to raise the profile of Syrah and other Rhône varietals from Washington State.
Tenet Wines consists of three wines: “Tenet” GSM (Grenache/Syrah/Mourvèdre) and “The Pundit” Syrah from Washington State’s Columbia Valley, and “Le Fervent” Syrah from the Costières de Nîmes in France’s Rhône Valley.
Chateau Ste. Michelle winemaker Bob Bertheau and Michel Gassier are co-winemakers for Tenet Wines. Philippe Cambie is consulting oenologist.
The three winemakers first convened in Washington State in the fall of 2012 to taste young wines from that year’s just-completed harvest. Drawing on their vast experience with Syrah and other Rhône varieties from their respective regions, the three winemakers quickly honed in on vineyard sites with the greatest potential to produce wines in the style they were looking for—expressive yet elegant, reflective of terroir, and with unmistakable varietal typicity. These sites were then farmed to the winemakers’ specifications from bud break to harvest, beginning with the 2013 vintage.
“Syrah and other Rhône varietals from Washington State are generally closer in style to the wines of the Old World than to other wines of the New World,” says Philippe Cambie. “This is why Michel and I chose to come here and we’re happy to have found the ideal partners in Chateau Ste. Michelle.”
This collaborative process continued when the grapes reached the cellar, with Bertheau lending expertise in picking decisions, phenolic profiles and tannin management, and Gassier and Cambie offering experience with stem inclusion and whole cluster fermentation and extended maceration. When the time came to assemble the final wines, the blending process was again a collaboration.
“By completely rethinking our approach here in the Southern Rhône, we are able to craft wines with more complexity and a truer expression of their terroirs,” says Michel Gassier. “I believe that because of its latitude, basalt soils and access to water, Washington State is the perfect spot in the U.S. to produce Rhône varietal wines that are balanced, vibrant and have a sense of place.”
In addition to the two Columbia Valley AVA wines, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates will also import a new wine—“Le Fervent” Syrah—made by Gassier from the Costières de Nîmes, the southernmost sub-appellation of the Rhône Valley, bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Due to the moderating influence of the Mediterranean, combined with the selection of cooler, northern-facing vineyard sites, Gassier has crafted “Le Fervent” Syrah to be more akin to Syrahs from the Northern Rhône, the birthplace of the varietal—elegant and fresh, with a vibrant minerality.
From the inaugural 2013 vintage, Tenet Wines produced just 1,069 cases of “Tenet” GSM, 8,113 cases of “The Pundit” Syrah, and 5,000 cases of “Le Fervent” Syrah. The Pundit Syrah ($25 retail) and Le Fervent Syrah ($22 retail) will be available nationally as of June 1, 2015. Tenet GSM ($70 retail) will follow with a September 1st release date.