Testarossa –15 years of building a foundation for the future

2008 marks the 15th anniversary since Diana and I started making wine in our Bay Area garage.  In the beginning, making wine was just a hobby. Thus, when we first tasted some of our 1994 barrel samples with local wine shop owners and restaurant sommeliers, we were wonderfully stunned by their encouraging words! They enjoyed it so much, that they wanted to buy it once it was bottled. 

Of course, with any new professional venture, critical acclaim is desired though it is typically not expected right out of the shoot.  Thus, when the first review came in for our 1994 Chardonnay from Monterey County’s Chalone Appellation, we were thrilled.  Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wines gave us 2 stars (91-94pts) saying in July of 1996:

"The label (Testarossa) represents another new venture starting life with a commendable Chardonnay produced in miniscule quantity.  This teasing offer shows a lavish display of sweet oak with smoke, spice and rich fruit."

Shortly after the CG review came in, Wine Spectator followed with a 91 point review for the same wine calling it “Ripe and Complex.”  Wow! 

After these two outstanding reviews, the momentum and interest in our wines picked up.  It seemed like we were adding one all-star vineyard after another to our list of grower partners.  In the mid and late 1990s, we developed fabulous relationships with vineyards like Bien Nacido, Sleepy Hollow, Pisoni and the brand new Garys’ and Rosella’s Vineyards.   Critical success continued when we hit a home run with our 1998 Pisoni Vineyard Pinot Noir from Monterey County’s Santa Lucia Highlands. This wine received a 98pt review from Connoisseurs’ Guide, which still, to this day, stands as the #1 all time highest rated Pinot Noir in their magazines’ 30 year history.

However, even though we were achieving unequalled critical acclaim among local wineries, we were still no where close to being profitable.   The red ink, though painful, was necessary as we were constantly making big investments for the future in our winemaking infrastructure and staff. In 1995, after doing extensive research, we developed the core philosophies of Testarossa:

• Customers - Treat every customer as if they are our only customer
• True - Always be true to making our wines how we want them to taste, not crafted to please a wine critic
• Quality – Maintain an uncompromising attitude towards quality.   Our motto is: “not one of the best, but THE best”. 
• Patience – Don’t grow too fast.  Our growth plan is 1,000 to 1,500 cases per year, with a philosophy that we can not grow without first improving quality.
• 100% Family Ownership – We are 100% family owned with no equity investors in the winery.  This is the most important way that we see to make sure that our philosophies are never compromised.

Fifteen years after we started Testarossa, 100% of our core philosophies are exactly the same.   We are blessed with a loyal Wine Club of over 1,400 members and counting.  We make our wines how we like them to taste and fortunately you like the way they taste as well!  Even though we do not cater our winemaking towards wine critics palates, we still have received over 300 90+ points reviews with more than 30 of these being reviews of 94 points or higher!   Finally over the past 13 vintages, our average growth has been 1,300 cases per year.

We do have all kinds of exciting plans and projects that are in the works for the future. First and foremost, we are currently in the middle of adding a major new cellar independent environmental control system for heat and humidity control. We are also beginning the process of opening up old historic cellars that have not been used for wine production for decades and bringing them up to modern standards. Other exciting developments include:  an exciting new vineyard partnership, completion of the five year winery restoration plan as well as the launch of a new branding campaign!

It is a great time to be at Testarossa!  The lessons we have learned over the past fifteen years have become a critical part of building a strong foundation for our never ending journey to make great wines for you! Thank you for being such an important part of our quest and for being part of the Testarossa family!  Without your dedication and support, we would not exist.

Cheers,

Rob & Diana Jensen
Proprietors