Passing Time Winery

Paul Ziterelli from Full Pull Wines....
 

Hello friends. Any concerns I had that Damon Huard and Dan Marino’s new Washington winery was a vanity project were obliterated about four seconds before I shook Damon’s hand in Woodinville’s warehouse district back in February. What did I overhear Damon talking about when I wandered in? 

Branding and labels? Nope. Think geekier.

Barrel regimen? Better guess, but think geekier still.

Damon was discussing vineyard spacing. Vineyard spacing! As someone who has passed a WSET exam that touched on vineyard spacing, allow me to say: this is wine geekery at its finest, and a very very good sign for this terrific Cabernet project:

2012 Passing Time Cabernet Sauvignon Horse Heaven Hills - $84.99 (TPU $74.99) 

Before I go any further, I have to make note of a very cool offer that Damon put forward at the end of our meeting. The deal is: any of our list members who buy 3 or more bottles of this wine will receive an invitation to Passing Time’s release party on April 18 and a chance to talk vineyard spacing, the prevalence of audibles among today’s NFL quarterback crop, or any other wine/football topics you like with Damon and Dan. Basically, we’re going to give the Passing Time folks a list of any of our members who order 3+ bottles, and if you do so, you should expect an invitation from the winery to be forthcoming.

Now then, the story of how this all came to be. The genesis of the project was a period in the late ‘90s when Dan and Damon overlapped with the Miami Dolphins. Marino was already a wine fanatic at that point, and he surprised Huard (a Washington native) with the fact that a solid chunk of his cellar came from Washington (wineries like Andrew Will, Leonetti, Col Solare, all three of which, I have to say, were making phenomenal wine in the late ‘90s; fine taste, Mr. Marino!).

Damon can tick off multiple connections to Washington wine: his great grandparents were grape farmers (okay, the grapes were Concord, but close enough); his grandpa played high school basketball with Paul Champoux (Champoux Vineyard); and he married a girl from the Yakima Valley.

So there was plenty of interest among both men in finding a way to move into Washington wine after retiring from football. With their shared love of Cabernet Sauvignon, and their connection to the Champoux family, the original plan was to wait until they could access Champoux Cabernet, but in the interim, they tasted Cabernets from a series of Champoux neighbors. One of those tastings featured Discovery Vineyard (if I had to guess, I’d peg an Andrew Will single-vineyard Cab), and the guys had a “wow” moment (I’ll admit; I’ve had a few of those drinking Disco Cabs).

With a vineyard plan in place, they next set about securing a consulting winemaker, and they landed on Chris Peterson of Avennia. I don’t think I have to say much about the wisdom of that choice. Our list members know perfectly well how beautiful Chris’ winemaking is. What I love about this project, though, is that Damon and Dan are asking Chris for a very different house style than he does for Avennia (we’ll dig into that more in the tasting note). I’m sure that’s part of what makes it interesting for Chris, as well, and it certainly makes it compelling from a consumer perspective.

Their first release, the 2012 vintage (couldn’t have started with a better year), is just this one wine, and they only produced 500 cases. Damon and Dan’s ex-teammates have probably already bought 400 of those cases, so I feel very lucky that our list has access at all. And on that note, I should say: please consider joining the winery mailing list. We’re fortunate to have received an allocation this year (the focus is mostly on direct sales and restaurant sales), but we have no guarantees going forward. The eventual goal for the winery is to produce three Cabernets: one from Horse Heaven, one from Walla Walla, and one from Red Mountain. Having tasted a lot of their wine in barrel, I can tell you that this is a serious project indeed, one that Cabernet lovers will want to play close attention to in coming years.

But back to this inaugural wine, which is 86% Cabernet Sauvignon from Discovery Vineyard, rounded out with Champoux Cabernet Franc and Klipsun Merlot. It was done in 80% new French oak, and hits the glass inky purple-black. The nose is super-expressive: violet, blackcurrant, and that wonderful graphitic/pencil-lead minerality that characterizes the best of HHH Cabernet Sauvignon. There’s a reason that Quilceda Creek and Andrew Will have been among the wineries to source Discovery Vineyard fruit; this site offers a striking balance of fruit and mineral elements. In the mouth, this is all about the texture (seamless, perfectly-weighted), and the breathtaking purity of fruit, a laser beam of cassis surrounded by terrific earth tones. The finish is all delicious Cabernet chew, redolent of black tea leaves and inviting another sip or another bite of steak.

If we think of the Avennia style as maybe 40/60 fruit elements/non-fruit elements, then we can think of Passing Time as Chris Peterson trying to achieve something closer to 70/30. It’s a beautiful wine, a terrific example of why Horse Heaven is the ne plus ultra of Washington Cab. Please limit order requests to 12 bottles, and we’ll do our best to fulfill all requests. The wine should arrive in late April, at which point it will be ready for pickup or shipping during the next temperature-appropriate shipping window.

Regards,
Team Full Pull