Terzetto Wines History

Like most ventures, Terzetto wines began as an idea. In 1999, Scott Wilson, a French Hornist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and veteran importer of wines from Oregon and Washington, and Peter Warrian, Professor of Economics at the University of Toronto, attended the International Pinot Noir Celebration in Oregon. Over the course of the Celebration they expressed a mutual interest in creating their own wines. Both lovers of Pinot Noir, they were well aware of how fickle and pricey an enterprise based on the heartbreak grape could be. Also, Pinot Noir was well-established, so what would be the next trend in New World wines? Their attention turned to Italian varietals. How about Sangiovese? At the time it had a spotty track record for price/quality. What other Italian varietals might be available?

Mr. Wilson thought immediately of Jim Clendenen at Au Bon Climat in Santa Maria, California, whose Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays he had represented in Ontario, Canada for years. He knew that Jim indeed made some fine wines in limited quantities from Barbera, Teroldego, Pinot Grigio, Tocai Friulano, Refosco and Nebbiolo. Peter and Scott agreed to pursue this idea, creating their own label of wines custom-made by Jim at the Au Bon Climat facility. They approached Jim with a proposal, which he accepted. Thus the Terzetto (3-voice opera aria) of the label had its origin.

The initial release, from the 1998 vintage, consisted of 150 cases each of Barbera, Teroldego and Tocai Friulano. These were all sold in the province of Ontario, Canada, and were warmly received by the wine press there, as exemplified by the reviews below from Michael Vaughan in Wine Tidings.

Terzetto 1998 Barbera, Central Coast:

“Garnet hue, powerhouse berry, pipe, toffee, leather, tar aromas shade to smoky bacon, blueberry cranberry on the palate. Sweet impression from pure fruit ripeness. Refreshing, dry finish." 93 pts.

Terzetto 1998 Tocai Friulano, Central Coast

Green-gold, herbs, peaches, apples, almonds, concentrated, toasty oak, limes. Big, beguiling, slinky. Food-match this wine as you would a light red.” 92 pts.

Terzetto 1998 Teroldego, Central Coast

Svelte with what the French call “small red fruits” plus blackberry, plum, cassis and elderberry, sage and sweet tannins with a tobacco note. Fresh, sunny wine. 87 pts.

The group continued to sell their wines in Ontario, primarily to the hospitality trade, while branching out to markets in the US. With such limited quantities of wine to sell, the selection of markets has been small as well: Washington DC/Virginia, Oregon and California are the only US markets to-date.

With the 2008 vintage the group thought to add another white wine to the portfolio. Pinot Grigio was a natural choice, but there was very limited fruit available in California. However, Oregon was and is, a different story. There the most widely-planted white varietal is Pinot Gris, and it did not take long to find a supplier willing to participate. David Paige of Filbert Ridge, did a beautiful job with our initial bottling of Pinot Grigio at the Adelsheim facility in Newberg, Oregon, from Willamette Valley fruit.

Rounding out the current releases are 2006 Teroldego, Mistral Vineyard, 2007 Barbera, Bien Nacido Vineyard, and 2008 Tocai Friulano from Vista Verde Vineyard.