Before launching Kerloo Cellars, Ryan Crane’s life was a whirlwind—taking classes at the Enology & Viticulture Program at Walla Walla Community College, working wine gigs while juggling a family, and working nights at Saffron Mediterranean Kitchen. After serving a stint at Forgeron Cellars, and an assistant winemaker position at Va Piano Vineyards, Crane released his first vintage in 2008 and has been steadily gaining momentum since.
Washington Tasting Room magazine reported on Kerloo in 2011 when Crane opened his first tasting room in a storefront in downtown Walla Walla. Since then, Crane’s reputation for crafting exciting Syrah and Tempranillo has multiplied manyfold, and deservedly so. Crane has expanded on the lineup of mostly Southern Rhône and Spanish style wines, making what could be called his own unique style of head-turning single-vineyard designates.
Crane has moved all his wine production to his new tasting room in downtown Seattle’s SODO neighborhood, open to the public Thursday through Sunday. “You can feel the creative wine energy in the air and we are excited to be a part of this new wine movement,” reports Kerloo’s general manager, Yvonne Davis.
Indeed, Crane’s “creative wine energy” bursts through every sip with a combination of verve, distinction, artfulness and balance. His obsession with single-vineyard varietals goes far beyond the expected; making wines which emit a sensibility of terroir yet are fully loaded with stylistic oomph and pizzaz. Crane’s wines are pure jazz, offering up soulful melodies and intense crescendos to the palate. Here are a few releases we recently sampled.
Kerloo Cellars 2012 Upland Vineyard Grenache, $40
Editor’s Choice – Outstanding
Nose: Mascerated raspberry, strawberry, fig, fresh mint, salted caramel, sage and tobacco leaf.
Taste: Brilliantly structured, with polished silky flavors of raspberry, red cherry and currants stretched out on a lithe framework of crushed rock minerality. There’s a flickering of tobacco and white pepper tobacco on the wow-finish.
Kerloo Cellars 2012 Les Colline Syrah, $40
Editor’s Choice – Outstanding
Nose & Taste: Open textured and structured, with wildly exotic floral aromas and matching flavors of lavender, blueberry, blackberry, black plum skin, chai and vanilla balanced with light savory notes of olive, game and basil leaf.
Kerloo Cellars 2012 StoneTree Malbec, $40
Editor’s Choice – Outstanding
Nose: Brooding aromas of dark berry, tobacco, cedar, violet and exotic spice.
Taste: Dense and powerful, stacked with complex layers of deeply concentrated flavors of juicy currants, blueberry, violets, coffee bean and swarthy minerality. Mouth-coating tannins persist endlessly on the finish.
Kerloo Cellars 2012 Tempranillo, $40
Editor’s Choice – Outstanding
Tempranillo grapes were sourced from StoneTree Vineyard (66%) and Les Collines (34%).
Nose: Dark fruit aromas mingled with black olive, espresso, dark chocolate, and tarry earth.
Taste: Mouth-coating tannins and juicy currant are present on the entry, with flavors of red berry, dried cherry, violet and tobacco on the mid-palate. Mineral overtones enhance the long, smooth finish.
Kerloo Cellars 2013 Art den Hoed Mourvedre, $32
Editor’s Choice – Excellent
Nose: Super aromatic with savory and floral expressions of black pepper, iris, dark purple fruit, citrus, anise, roasted quail and lightly-tanned leather.
Taste: Richly textured with round tannins, this red wine unfurls put and focused flavors of peppercorn, red berry and plum inlaid with notes of tea, rose water, clove and spice. Fresh acidity and citrus notes enliven the finish.