Pleiades Wines Co. – Thackrey - California
Sean Thackrey was one of the most influential people in the Bay Area Food & Wine community, and had been for nearly three decades. Along with luminaries like Alice Waters and Kermit Lynch, Sean Thackrey was deeply linked to the shaping of food & wine as we know it, and to this day represented many of the best and most ground-breaking practices in our industry.
Since 1980, Sean had been producing wines that were extraordinary not only for great quality and complexity, but also because Sean utilized unique wine-making techniques, often drawing from historic, sometimes ancient, wine-making practices from all over the world. The results were consistent, as evidenced by Sean’s continued support and enthusiasm from his peers and devoted customers.
Sean sourced grapes from many locations throughout California, and made all his wines by hand–” touching every grape”–at his small Bolinas winery. Self-taught, and fully reliant on his intuition and senses, Sean was the antithesis of corporate wine-making. The proof was in the bottle.
Website: https://pleiadeswinecompany.com/
The Wines
Pleiades
Named for the Pleiades star cluster (also called the Seven Sisters) this wine is a blend of syrah, sangiovese, mourvèdre, barbera, carignane, petite sirah and viognier, among others. Thackrey blends by taste and doesn’t keep track of the fruit that ends up in each blend so it’s different from year to year. Juicy fruit, earth and Thackrey’s signature eucalyptus note.
Orion Rossi Vineyard
Orion old vines is native California wine, born from a particular field, planted in 1905 to its own particular constellation of grapes. Sean Thackrey has worked hard to reveal, rather than tame, its individuality. It is a wine of great character, intensely aromatic, with exceptional depth of color and richness of flavor. It will age better than most of us, or can be drunk with pleasure now, depending on your affection for your heirs.