A highly knowledgeable and articulate winemaker, Alphonse de Klerk has for years consistently delivered red and white wines that yield authenticity of character, depth and balance—a reflection it could be said, at least in part, of his own personality. Born in the Netherlands, the longtime devotee of fruit from Upland Vineyard is slowly spreading his wings to include other unique sites, such as Syrah from Lewis Vineyard in the Yakima Valley (still aging in barrel as of this writing).
Branching out to different vineyards is just one more leg in the latest evolution of this growing winery; they opened an attractive new tasting room in the quiet Rolling Bay neighborhood of Bainbridge Island in early 2018.
“We’ve gone from a 440-square-foot space to a 3,000-square-foot winery and 1,000 square-foot-tasting room, which is significant for us,” says Alphonse. “Joe Chauncey was the architect, who designed Col Solare and specializes in winery design.” The nearly ten-fold expansion will provide greater efficiencies of scale for Rolling Bay Winery’s production.
Alphonse was originally a career photographer who trained at the prestigious Art Center in Los Angeles. The good-natured Dutchman has been perfecting his Burgundian style of Chardonnay since 1989, back when Rob Griffin used to be the winemaker for Hogue Cellars in the Yakima Valley. “Chardonnay is my favorite wine to make, and also my favorite to drink,” says Alphonse. “Rob Griffin gave me my first grapes. I was doing a photo shoot for Hogue Cellars, and he says, Come back tomorrow and you can pick whatever is left on the vine. Alphonse returned for the grapes and has been producing Chardonnay ever since.
The year he picked those initial Chardonnay grapes, Alphonse’s daughter, Camille, was less than one year old. Following in the family’s winemaking tradition, she married a Frenchman in 2017 and is currently working at a winery in France as an assistant winemaker.
After years of conducting yeast trials on his barrel-fermented Reserve Chardonnay, Alphonse has it dialed in. “I talked to Francoise, now my son-in-law, who worked in Burgundy for three vintages, and we compared notes from what they were doing,” shares Alphonse, who stirs the wine on the lees twice a month during the aging process. He goes as far as tasting the lees each time to taste the different qualifiers in how the wine is progressing. “Stirring the lees protects the wines from oxidation, as well as releases flavor compounds within the wine molecules. At the very end, you get these incredible crème brûlée and toffee notes.”
Alphonse says he did not bottle a Reserve Chardonnay in 2015 because he felt the quality missed the mark during that particularly hot vintage. The good news is the 2016 version has been released and it scored our highest rating.
You can visit the charming tasting room at 11272 Sunrise Dr NE, Bainbridge Island or find them online at www.rollingbaywinery.com
Here are 4 releases we recently reviewed:
Rolling Bay 2016 Upland Vineyard Reserve Chardonnay, $39
Editor’s Choice – Extraordinary (95-100 pts.)
An absolutely stunning version lovingly crafted in the tradition of French Burgundy’s finest. Silky and opulent, with generous aromatics of lemon chiffon, toffee and spice. Rich, full flavors of lemon-infused crème brûlée, limestone minerality, green apple and yellow mango weave through the smooth and creamy mid-palate, lingering on the lengthy, complex finish.
Rolling Bay Winery 2015 Upland Vineyard Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, $55
Editor’s Choice – Outstanding (91-94 pts.)
Made from some of the oldest vines in the state, this Cabernet is deeply concentrated and rich, with a plush mouthfeel swirling with loamy earth, rock and mineral notes backed by blackberry preserves, black currant, red plum, vanilla and espresso flavors. The joy ride continues through the lengthy finish. Only 25 cases made of this small-lot wine.
Rolling Bay 2015 Upland Vineyard Cuvée Aldaro, $38
Editor’s Choice – Outstanding (91-94 pts.)
Forty-year-old Cabernet vines account for the backbone of this well-crafted Bordeaux varietal red blend, lending waves of stony minerality and endless depth to the juicy, rich flavors of cassis, Marionberry and red currant streaked with blue fruit and caramel notes on the deep, long finish.
Rolling Bay Winery 2015 Upland Vineyard Cabernet Franc, $38
Editor’s Choice – Outstanding (91-94 pts.)
This varietal is a darling among Washington wine lovers and this latest release is an absolute gem. Tobacco and deep notes of loam and rock flow vibrantly through a rich blanket of black raspberry with black currant flavors in harmony, yet these is verve present with mineral and spice notes pushing long into the finish. Smooth fine tannins linger.