Terre Rouge Enigma 1999
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2004-
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Terre Rouge is located in California on the West Slope of the Sierra Nevada in Amador County’s Shenandoah Valley. The wines are made from vineyards in four Sierra Foothill counties: Placer, El Dorado, Amador, and Calaveras. They also source fruit from one vineyard site in the soon-to-be new Clements appellation.
Terre Rouge's style emphasizes deep color, balanced flavors, full middle palate, and a long finish, with power and finesse. These wines gain complexity with age. Their goal has been to make the finest wines possible from the region - wines that transcend time and place and can be placed on the table with the best wines of the world.
President and Winemaker Bill Easton has been in the wine trade for over 30 years, not only as a winemaker, but also as a wine retailer, importer, and vineyard consultant. He has been handcrafting Terre Rouge Wines since the mid-1980's. Bill brings his well-honed palate to the table each time he makes one of our wines. He has an uncanny ability to create wines that express both power and finesse. He is not satisfied by making wines that are just well extracted, but strives to craft wines of nuance and complexity.
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.
Originally a source of oenological sustenance for gold-seeking miners of the mid-1800s, the Sierra Foothills was the first region in California to produce wines from European grape varieties. Located between Sacramento and the Nevada border, this area’s immigrant settlers chose to forgo growing the then-ubiquitous Mission grape and instead brought with them superior vines from the Old World to plant alongside mining camps.
Zinfandel has been the most important variety of this region since its inception, taking on a spicy character with brambly fruit and firm structure. Amador and El Dorado counties, benefiting from the presence of volcanic and granite soils, are home to the best examples. Bold, robust Rhône Blends and Barbera are also important regional specialties.