Kent Rasmussen Esoterica 2010 Sauvignon Blanc - 3 Pack
$39.99 + $7.00 shipping
CONDITION: White
PRODUCT: 3 Kent Rasmussen Esoterica 2010 Sauvignon Blanc
CT link above

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And here I just this very night told two separate people that there was NO way wine.woot would put yet another white up in the next few days. Don't regret being the second sucker!

This looks very interesting. I am a big fan of Kent's Roussanne and am really looking forward to trying his rose. However, I cannot quite picture Sauvignon Blanc together with the round mouthfeel and elegance that I loved in Roussanne Esoterica. I guess I'm torn.... help?

Kent Rasmussen and my favorite white varietal?

Yes please, in for 2.

Hi all of you wine.wooters. This is Kent.

So, today we are offering the 3rd (and final) offering of Esoterica whitish wines, my 2010 Sauvignon Blanc. I am writing now as I will only have a couple of minutes in the morning to respond to questions before I get on a plane for a trip with my son to the "rust belt"….a fine way to spend a vacation….Detroit, Flint, Cleveland, Toledo and Pittsburgh. It will finally give me a chance to see who all those people I am constantly voting against really are…..but that isn't point of this note.

This SB was an experiment for me. Celia and I spent three weeks in New Zealand last year and did a lot of wine tasting. I loved the Pinots on the South Island, but even more, I thought that what they were doing with Sauvignon Blanc in the North was fabulous. Some of you may remember, back in the late 80's and early 90s I made a huge name for myself with Sauvignon Blanc…..a rich barrel fermented full-of-cat-pea SB that was completely over the top. Huge ratings, lots of puffs, and so on. By the mid-90s we were still getting the scores, but nobody was buying the wine…..and, with some sadness, I quit making it. That said, my tastes changed too and while that style still held a tiny bit of water for me with Chardonnay, I found that the SBs I really enjoyed were far more austere, flinty and mineraly….not butterbombs. In New Zealand last year I thought…." I wonder if I could make this kind of wine with California SB?" With this wine, I gave it a try.

So, what I did….I approached a SB grower that I know and asked him if I could differentially pick his vineyard for the LEAST RIPE grapes…..he thought I was crazy, but was more than happy to comply. The clone that he grows is the Sauvignon Musque clone that has the tiniest bit of Muscat character (a compound called Linolool (great Scrabble word by the by). We night harvest these grapes and brought them into the winery absolute ice cold. Immediately we whole-cluster pressed them and the juice went to tank very cold. Fermentation was at 51 degrees (just high enough to keep the yeast alive). The fermentation took about 6 weeks. As soon as fermentation was over I racked the wine and a few weeks later bottled it. The result was fantastic….it was exactly what I had wanted…..huge bright fruit, tight clean acidity, wonderful clarity of SB character…..a total success.

All the above said…..if you want the perfect clean, crisp, refreshing, fruity, steely and absolutely beautiful SB….buy this wine. If you want Chardonnay…..don't buy this wine.

As I always say….I hope that you enjoy it, but this time….I think you probably will….and I still don't understand why the bottles are up-side-down!!!!!!

All the best, Kent

ratnikov wrote:This looks very interesting. I am a big fan of Kent's Roussanne and am really looking forward to trying his rose. However, I cannot quite picture Sauvignon Blanc together with the round mouthfeel and elegance that I loved in Roussanne Esoterica. I guess I'm torn.... help?

SB shouldn't have that same mouthfeel or flavor profile or taste or smell as Roussanne. Totally different varietal from a totally different originating region (Bordeaux vs. Rhone). You won't find the same characteristics because you shouldn't.

KRWINE wrote:Hi all of you wine.wooters. This is Kent.

So, today we are offering the 3rd (and final) offering of Esoterica whitish wines, my 2010 Sauvignon Blanc. I am writing now as I will only have a couple of minutes in the morning to respond to questions before I get on a plane for a trip with my son to the "rust belt"….a fine way to spend a vacation….Detroit, Flint, Cleveland, Toledo and Pittsburgh. It will finally give me a chance to see who all those people I am constantly voting against really are…..but that isn't point of this note.

This SB was an experiment for me. Celia and I spent three weeks in New Zealand last year and did a lot of wine tasting. I loved the Pinots on the South Island, but even more, I thought that what they were doing with Sauvignon Blanc in the North was fabulous. Some of you may remember, back in the late 80's and early 90s I made a huge name for myself with Sauvignon Blanc…..a rich barrel fermented full-of-cat-pea SB that was completely over the top. Huge ratings, lots of puffs, and so on. By the mid-90s we were still getting the scores, but nobody was buying the wine…..and, with some sadness, I quit making it. That said, my tastes changed too and while that style still held a tiny bit of water for me with Chardonnay, I found that the SBs I really enjoyed were far more austere, flinty and mineraly….not butterbombs. In New Zealand last year I thought…." I wonder if I could make this kind of wine with California SB?" With this wine, I gave it a try.

So, what I did….I approached a SB grower that I know and asked him if I could differentially pick his vineyard for the LEAST RIPE grapes…..he thought I was crazy, but was more than happy to comply. The clone that he grows is the Sauvignon Musque clone that has the tiniest bit of Muscat character (a compound called Linolool (great Scrabble word by the by). We night harvest these grapes and brought them into the winery absolute ice cold. Immediately we whole-cluster pressed them and the juice went to tank very cold. Fermentation was at 51 degrees (just high enough to keep the yeast alive). The fermentation took about 6 weeks. As soon as fermentation was over I racked the wine and a few weeks later bottled it. The result was fantastic….it was exactly what I had wanted…..huge bright fruit, tight clean acidity, wonderful clarity of SB character…..a total success.

All the above said…..if you want the perfect clean, crisp, refreshing, fruity, steely and absolutely beautiful SB….buy this wine. If you want Chardonnay…..don't buy this wine.

As I always say….I hope that you enjoy it, but this time….I think you probably will….and I still don't understand why the bottles are up-side-down!!!!!!

All the best, Kent

Good enough for me, dude. SB is my all time favorite white, and if you feel you shot for the southern hemisphere good stuff and hit the target, I'm gonna press the button.

KRWINE wrote: I made a huge name for myself with Sauvignon Blanc…..a rich barrel fermented full-of-cat-pea SB that was completely over the top.

Are we talking $47 bones for cat pee or over the top tropical fruit goodness?

I hope we see some of your Pinot make an appearance here this year

Also what's the drinking window on your Sauvignon Blanc?

KRWINE wrote:Hi all of you wine.wooters. This is Kent.

So, today we are offering the 3rd (and final) offering of Esoterica whitish wines, my 2010 Sauvignon Blanc. I am writing now as I will only have a couple of minutes in the morning to respond to questions before I get on a plane for a trip with my son to the "rust belt"….a fine way to spend a vacation….Detroit, Flint, Cleveland, Toledo and Pittsburgh. It will finally give me a chance to see who all those people I am constantly voting against really are…..but that isn't point of this note.

This SB was an experiment for me. Celia and I spent three weeks in New Zealand last year and did a lot of wine tasting. I loved the Pinots on the South Island, but even more, I thought that what they were doing with Sauvignon Blanc in the North was fabulous. Some of you may remember, back in the late 80's and early 90s I made a huge name for myself with Sauvignon Blanc…..a rich barrel fermented full-of-cat-pea SB that was completely over the top. Huge ratings, lots of puffs, and so on. By the mid-90s we were still getting the scores, but nobody was buying the wine…..and, with some sadness, I quit making it. That said, my tastes changed too and while that style still held a tiny bit of water for me with Chardonnay, I found that the SBs I really enjoyed were far more austere, flinty and mineraly….not butterbombs. In New Zealand last year I thought…." I wonder if I could make this kind of wine with California SB?" With this wine, I gave it a try.

So, what I did….I approached a SB grower that I know and asked him if I could differentially pick his vineyard for the LEAST RIPE grapes…..he thought I was crazy, but was more than happy to comply. The clone that he grows is the Sauvignon Musque clone that has the tiniest bit of Muscat character (a compound called Linolool (great Scrabble word by the by). We night harvest these grapes and brought them into the winery absolute ice cold. Immediately we whole-cluster pressed them and the juice went to tank very cold. Fermentation was at 51 degrees (just high enough to keep the yeast alive). The fermentation took about 6 weeks. As soon as fermentation was over I racked the wine and a few weeks later bottled it. The result was fantastic….it was exactly what I had wanted…..huge bright fruit, tight clean acidity, wonderful clarity of SB character…..a total success.

All the above said…..if you want the perfect clean, crisp, refreshing, fruity, steely and absolutely beautiful SB….buy this wine. If you want Chardonnay…..don't buy this wine.

As I always say….I hope that you enjoy it, but this time….I think you probably will….and I still don't understand why the bottles are up-side-down!!!!!!

All the best, Kent

Kent,

You are a very good salesman, plus I have a special place in my home for Rasmussen wines! My very first lab rat experience was a bottle of Kent Rasmussen Pinot, and my subsequent order contains a bottle you signed which I have displayed in the cellar.

When I choose white, my go-to is Sauvignon Blanc, and your description sounds right up my alley. In for 3! Cheers!

Did anyone else just start to receive these wine.woot daily digests again, out of the blue? This is costing me a fortune.

Kent Rasmussen Esoterica 2010 Sauvignon Blanc - 3 Pack

Current numbers (updated each minute)
First sucker: mill
Speed to first woot: 1m 19.167s
Last wooter to woot: crabpuff

KRWINE wrote:Hi all of you wine.wooters. This is Kent.

Hi Kent,

If you are going to be in the Cleveland area August 5th-6th, I hope you get a chance to check out the Vintage Ohio wine festival at Lake Farmpark in Kirtland.

25 local wineries will be participating this year. I'd love to hear your take on Ohio wines sometime in the future!

Vintage Ohio website

EDIT: Last wooter to woot: chipgreen

Dangit!!! This comes up a few days before we leave town for three weeks. Otherwise I'd be in.

Couldn't resist. In for 3!

Kent Rasmussen Esoterica 2010 Sauvignon Blanc - 3 Pack
Current numbers (updated each minute)
First sucker: mill
Speed to first woot: 1m 19.167s
Last wooter to woot: mikop168

chipgreen wrote:Ohio wines.

Do you want him to revoke his Ohio license? Don't encourage him to taste our swill. Really, I am only semi serious. I haven't tried all, but the Ohio wines I have had have been atrocious. I enjoy dry reds first and foremost, so if you have any to recommend that are decent, I am all ears. Otherwise, I just group it all into the "Oh, you like alcohol called wine? Here, try this" category.

In for three. I'm going to need another wine fridge.

So once again I quickly hit the buy button without looking to see if it could ship to Vermont. Of course I did this because I just received an Esoterica shipment of Roussanne less than a month ago. Is it possible that Vermont has been left off the list by mistake? Please? I want this!

Well, since the wife has been bugging me for some woot Whites, and words like steely and flinty seem to guarantee none of the oakiness she dislikes, I'm in!

KRWINE wrote:Hi all of you wine.wooters. This is Kent.

So, today we are offering the 3rd (and final) offering of Esoterica whitish wines, my 2010 Sauvignon Blanc. I am writing now as I will only have a couple of minutes in the morning to respond to questions before I get on a plane for a trip with my son to the "rust belt"….a fine way to spend a vacation….Detroit, Flint, Cleveland, Toledo and Pittsburgh. It will finally give me a chance to see who all those people I am constantly voting against really are…..but that isn't point of this note.

This SB was an experiment for me. Celia and I spent three weeks in New Zealand last year and did a lot of wine tasting. I loved the Pinots on the South Island, but even more, I thought that what they were doing with Sauvignon Blanc in the North was fabulous. Some of you may remember, back in the late 80's and early 90s I made a huge name for myself with Sauvignon Blanc…..a rich barrel fermented full-of-cat-pea SB that was completely over the top. Huge ratings, lots of puffs, and so on. By the mid-90s we were still getting the scores, but nobody was buying the wine…..and, with some sadness, I quit making it. That said, my tastes changed too and while that style still held a tiny bit of water for me with Chardonnay, I found that the SBs I really enjoyed were far more austere, flinty and mineraly….not butterbombs. In New Zealand last year I thought…." I wonder if I could make this kind of wine with California SB?" With this wine, I gave it a try.

So, what I did….I approached a SB grower that I know and asked him if I could differentially pick his vineyard for the LEAST RIPE grapes…..he thought I was crazy, but was more than happy to comply. The clone that he grows is the Sauvignon Musque clone that has the tiniest bit of Muscat character (a compound called Linolool (great Scrabble word by the by). We night harvest these grapes and brought them into the winery absolute ice cold. Immediately we whole-cluster pressed them and the juice went to tank very cold. Fermentation was at 51 degrees (just high enough to keep the yeast alive). The fermentation took about 6 weeks. As soon as fermentation was over I racked the wine and a few weeks later bottled it. The result was fantastic….it was exactly what I had wanted…..huge bright fruit, tight clean acidity, wonderful clarity of SB character…..a total success.

All the above said…..if you want the perfect clean, crisp, refreshing, fruity, steely and absolutely beautiful SB….buy this wine. If you want Chardonnay…..don't buy this wine.

As I always say….I hope that you enjoy it, but this time….I think you probably will….and I still don't understand why the bottles are up-side-down!!!!!!

All the best, Kent

You convinced me! In for one!

Waited and missed the last one, not this time,
in 4 2. Last Wooter To Woot: rjquillin

Kent said hi. That's all I needed to know to order it. He had me at hello. He had me at hello!

Hey all,

I am going to be phasing out the EWN service. I don't have the time or resources to commit to it anymore, and as you can tell, I've been doing a crap job of getting alerts out for anything.

I don't have time to put together the spreadsheets that generate the incredible offers list, so that one has pretty much been defunct for a while now. And with woot putting out their own daily newsletter with the current offers for each day, combined with the plethora of other, more reliable services out there, I just don't see the need to have the EWN thing anymore.

Going forward, if people want to be alerted about wine.woot offers, I encourage you to check out wootalyzer and sign up for their text alerts - they are pretty good, and very quick, about getting the text out as or just before each new item pops up during a wootoff. They're actually the service I use to keep up for passing on to the EWN lists. So it's just silly - people should use that instead.

List: Incredible Offers will be shutting down effective immediately.

List: Woot Cellars will be shutting down effective immediately.

List: Favorites will be shutting down effective immediately.

List: Woot-off will remain running until the end of the next woot-off, so that users have time to transition themselves to another service. Once the next woot-off completes, this list will also shut down.

Although the signup form is still out there, effective immediately, any new users signing up will not be processed.

Thank you for using the service, and I am sorry we fell massively short of anyone's expectations for it (including my own).

[quote postid="4576868" user="KRWINE"]Hi all of you wine.wooters. This is Kent.

OK...nicely done...great description...I'm in!

Can't beat a good SB. Missed the rosé, but not this. Kent is one of the winemakers with deep knowledge and true sophistication and craft in California.

Los Angeles, who's in for a comparative SB tasting next week (if it arrives by then)?

My sauvignon blanc stash now includes
KR
Wellington
Schug
Some others I'm sure I can remember...

Who's up?

Another auto-buy. This is getting to be a Rasmussen Fest! Only my wallet complains!

MountainWoman wrote:So once again I quickly hit the buy button without looking to see if it could ship to Vermont. Of course I did this because I just received an Esoterica shipment of Roussanne less than a month ago. Is it possible that Vermont has been left off the list by mistake? Please? I want this!

the last offering from kent was also excluding vermont. it could be due to some recent tax laws coming out of the legislature.

I really, really want to buy this wine -- but am absolutely scared to death of the summer shipping issues. 3 cooked bottles already & I just hate to waste wine. Will be visiting KRV when we're in Napa next week; hopefully can hand carry a case or two home (trying out my new wine case checked luggage carrier).

Wine.woot should look into selling them on a Gift Thursday.

cheron98 wrote:Hey all, . . .

Thank you for all the great info you have provided the WW community over the last years. I know I have found it to be very useful and well-done in the two years I've been a wooter.

Cheers!

Sounds just what I like in a SB - thanks Kent for making it.

1. An excellent winemaker.

2. A varietal that I love when done well.

3. Summer.

4. Sounds like Sancerre with California fruit.

5. Last wooter to woot: tytiger58

KRWINE wrote:and I still don't understand why the bottles are up-side-down!!!!!!

All the best, Kent

Why, to keep the corks wet, of course :D

keithnowak7 wrote:Do you want him to revoke his Ohio license? Don't encourage him to taste our swill. Really, I am only semi serious. I haven't tried all, but the Ohio wines I have had have been atrocious. I enjoy dry reds first and foremost, so if you have any to recommend that are decent, I am all ears. Otherwise, I just group it all into the "Oh, you like alcohol called wine? Here, try this" category.

Being from the Cleveland area, the majority of OH wines I've had are from NE Ohio - mostly from wineries located near Lake Erie.

With similar growing conditions to upstate New York and Northern Michigan, the whites are easily a notch or two above the reds IMO.

Riesling, Catawba, Seyval Blanc, Vidal Blanc, Cayuga, Niagra, Gewurstraminer, etc. seem to represent the region well.

For local reds, I usually stick with Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. My recommendation for a dry OH red would be the Cabernet Franc from either Ferrante or Debonne. You might also like the Claret from John Christ. Although I haven't tried it, the Cabernet Franc from Klingshirn was a "2010 Ohio Wine Gold Medal Winner".

EDIT: All 4 of the above mentioned wineries will be represented at the Vintage Ohio Wine Festival this coming weekend.

StarM wrote:Thank you for all the great info you have provided the WW community over the last years. I know I have found it to be very useful and well-done in the two years I've been a wooter.

Cheers!

Oh I'm not going anywhere, just not running EWN anymore I still have my rats to pack each week, at some point, when I find 30 free minutes...

No way I could ever pass up KR. 3 sets now ordered. (somewhere between 3-5 bottles for me after splitting)

Wow, been a while since I've been on here, but I can't resist a clean, crisp, SB with good minerality, and from Kent no less! Nice...

cheron98 wrote:Hey all,

I am going to be phasing out the EWN service. I don't have the time or resources to commit to it anymore.

Thank you for running the service all these years. I'm sure it helped lots of folks.

People's lives do hie off in various directions, and you are certainly no exception to that. Moving to LI and exploring a new relationship would, I hope, keep you busy and happy.

I went in for two. It sounds like my kind of SB.

Aaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhh ...
Was about to order and only then noticed that CT is a no-go for this one. I can't even send it to my friend in MA.
It's a sad day in the nutmeg state.

In for three, with 6 bottles sold to co-workers. Looking forward to them!

Kent, I like to input in CellarTracker a valuation somewhat equivalent to the retail cost if I were to buy it direct (or outside of woot). Since I can't find your page for this one on your website, could you let us know what you sell this one for?
Also, what is your price of the Roussanne? I don't seem to have entered that one. I might actually be opening a Roussanne tonight at dinner with my parents.

Thanks.