Testarossa
Located in Los Gatos, California, Testarossa Winery was established in 1993 by Rob and Diana Jensen. The husband-and-wife duo started by producing 25 cases in their garage; today, more than 15,000 cases are produced annually, including single-vineyard bottlings of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah. Grapes are sourced by Testarossa from more than a dozen vineyards located throughout the Central Coast, including the world class Bien Nacido, Sleepy Hollow and Pisoni Vineyards. Testarossa’s ratings are consistently high; over the years, many of the wines have received accolades, including the 1998 Cuvée Niclaire Pinot Noir being named the #1 Pinot Noir in Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s Top 100 Wines of 2001. The 2004 Diana's Reserve Chardonnay, 2001 Sleepy Hollow Vineyard Chardonnay and the 1999 Signature Reserve Chardonnay have all been awarded W.E. Editors’ Choice status.
Testarossa 2005 Sleepy Hollow Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Lucia Highlands)
- $59
How effortless it was to get the grapes ripe in this long, dry vintage, when the weather so favored coastal Pinot Noir. This wine strikes the perfect balance of ripe, sweet cherry, raspberry, cola and pomegranate fruit balanced by fine acidity and tannins. The oak is just right. Best now and for a year or two for its flamboyant, adolescent deliciousness.
— S.H.
(6/1/2007)
Testarossa 2005 Graham Family Vineyard Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley)
- $54
I’ve never tasted a Testarossa Pinot from this vineyard, and in fact this is only the second Russian River Pinot I’ve had from the winery, which favors Central and South Coast vineyards. Made from very young vines, the wine shows great promise. It’s rich in primary fruit cherries, raspberries and spicy cola, with a Dijon-clone directness, and enormously balanced in…
— S.H.
(6/1/2007)
Testarossa 2005 Cuvee Niclaire Pinot Noir
- $75
A best barrels blend of the winery’s various vineyards, which are numerous throughout California, Niclaire shows a balance and elegance that prove Pinot doesn’t have to come from a single vineyard to be great. The ’05 is a delicious wine, soft and gentle and rich in flavor, yet dry and balanced. It fills the mouth with cherry pie, cassis, cola, Asian spice and…
— S.H.
(9/1/2007)
Testarossa 2005 Garys Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Lucia Highlands)
- $59
Testarossa always does a good job at keeping Garys’ Pinots, which can be out-sized, tame. The ’05 shows the vineyard’s typicity in the big, ripe fruit and fullness of mouthfeel, yet stays elegant and polished. Cherries, black raspberries, sugared rosehip tea and sweetly smoky oak are the flavors, although the wine is fully dry on the finish. It will easily sustain…
— S.H.
(9/1/2007)
Testarossa 2005 Fritschen Vineyard Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley)
- $54
You’ll want to give this pretty Pinot some time in the bottle, to let it mellow out. Right now, it’s a big-boned wine, with flamboyant raspberry, cherry and sassafras flavors of the pie-filling kind, and a smoky, vanilla edge of oak. Despite the volume, the wine is dry and elegant, with a rich scour of cleansing acidity. Best after winter 2007.
— S.H.
(11/1/2007)
Testarossa 2005 Brosseau Vineyard Pinot Noir (Chalone)
- $54
This Pinot shows the ripeness and richness that Testarossa is known for. Grape yields were evidently low, to judge by the concentration of cherries, raspberries, blackberries, cola, root beer and pomegranate flavors. Fully dry, the wine also is somewhat tight in tannins and acids. It should benefit from a few years in the cellar.
— S.H.
(12/1/2007)
Testarossa 2006 Rosellas Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Lucia Highlands)
- $59
Here’s a big, extracted young Pinot Noir, superrich in the cherry, black raspberry, cola, pomegranate and licorice flavors that the vineyard so effortlessly produces. It’s a dramatic wine, richly oaked, crisply dry and even a little tannic, and will probably be drunk too young by most of its fans. Best after 2008 and through 2012.
— S.H.
(5/1/2008)
Testarossa 2006 Sleepy Hollow Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Lucia Highlands)
- $59
The vineyard is in the northwestern, coolest part of the Highlands, which is most susceptible to the chilly winds that blow in from Monterey Bay. You can taste the salty tang of the sea, and the wine certainly is high in acidity. It’s also deep in cherry, raspberry, currant, cola and spice flavors. Delicious now, and should mellow over the next six years.
— S.H.
(5/1/2008)
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