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| "Of all of the cult wines of California, Sean Thackrey’s singular Orion bottling is right at the top of my personal list, particularly so as I've been following this consistently fascinating wine since its maiden voyage in 1986. Orion is shrouded in mystery, created by an autodidact who lives off the wine grid in the wilds of western Marin County and has never actively promoted his wines .... |
| | | ▲ Sean Thackrey, 1942-2022 |
| The two vineyards that have produced Orion are also part of the wine’s mystique. From 1986 through 1990, Orion came from a very old Yountville vineyard behind Mustard’s restaurant that was owned by veteran grower Arthur Schmidt, whose grandfather built the house on the property. Most of the vineyard was planted to Petite Sirah of unknown origin, but Schmidt had interplanted some Syrah and sold a couple tons of this fruit to Thackrey, enough to bottle about 150 cases of wine each year. Clark Swanson and Swanson Winery purchased this parcel after the 1990 harvest and Thackrey lost access to the fruit after 1991 (he did not release a 1991 Orion, as the new vineyard manager picked the grapes much too late, 'with no taste of fruit'). So in 1991 Thackrey entered into a long-term agreement to purchase fruit from the rocky, low-yielding, five-acre Rossi Vineyard at the end of Madrona Avenue in St. Helena. While most Orion fans of my acquaintance continue to think of this wine as Syrah, it’s actually a very old field blend dating back to 1905 that includes at least 11 varieties, including some that have not yet been definitively identified. The first release from this new source was the 1992, and Rossi continues to be the source for Orion today, with annual production ranging between 300 and 400 cases ....
He has completely destemmed his fruit 'for a long time.' The wines spend 60 days on their skins in open-top fermenters, which Thackrey says yields substantial but lush, long-chain, polymerized tannins. He ages Orion in a variety of French oak—originally supplied mostly by Sirugue, then some François Frères barrels too and more recently a percentage of Taransaud. He used about one-third new oak at the beginning, but the percentage of new wood has increased steadily over the years and is close to 100% today. But Orion has never been dominated by its wood component: 'Oak is simply a spice for me,' says Thackrey. The wines get minimal racking and are bottled during the second spring, with a light fining (originally with egg whites but more recently with lysozyme, which also has anti-bacterial properties) but no filtration." Stephen Tanzer, Vinous, Apr 2015 ("Sean Thackrey’s Orion: A Complete Retrospective") |
| | "Lastly, the 2016 Orion comes from a single vineyard and is a field blend (the blend isn't specified) from vines planted in 1905. It's a gorgeous effort with a semi-opaque ruby/purple color as well as a smorgasbord-like array of red, blue, and black fruits, toasted spices, candied orange, herbes de Provence, and tobacco. Deep, layered, and full-bodied on the palate, it has remarkable purity of fruit, velvety tannins, a great mid-palate, and one heck of a finish."
96
Jeb Dunnuck
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