2022 Trousseau

Tegan Passalacqua reminds me of the musicians I met when I was a student at Berklee. He is a virtuoso, someone put on this earth to do one thing. In Passalacqua’s case, that is to make wine. An avid student, Passalacqua has devoted his life to exploring and understating California’s heritage vineyards, both at his day job at Turley, where he oversees all winemaking and at Sandlands, his personal project. Passalacqua’s knowledge of vineyards and the history of wine is vast, as evidenced through his extensive collection of old books and maps.

The Sandlands wines draw from a number of sites in northern California. The wines are marked by a curious mix. Some offerings showcase old heritage vineyards and classic varieties, while others are much more experimental, like the new Assyrtiko and Mencia. The reds are vinified with a high percentage of stems and aged in neutral wood, while the whites are done in a fairly structured, almost phenolic style that is quite distinctive. “Technology has helped us make much better wines today than in the past,” Passalacqua explains. “That might not be the trendy thing to say, but it is true. Specifically, I am referring to our ability to test the wines frequently for potential microbial issues, which was not available to previous generations.”