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Thunder Mountain fire sale?

Back in February, at our Open That Bottle Night mega-tasting, one of the guys brought a bottle of 1995 Thunder Mountain Cab he'd obtained through a wine club membership many years ago. He figured he'd held the bottle long enough, time to open it. Unfortunately, I didn't keep serious notes of the evening's selections, but my mini-notes show I rated it outstanding, 90+.

It's the only time I'd ever seen or heard of Thunder Mountain wines before last Friday night. I wandered into a liquor store in Soioux City, Iowa and was surprised to find the 2001 Star Ruby Cienega Valley meritage on the shelf. For $13.99! This is wine that routinely retails for $45-$50, and that's if you can find it.

So why is a $45 wine selling in Corn Country for $14? The story I got from the shop owner was that the Thunder Mounatin winemaker had died, and that his widow now wants nothing to do with the winery. So, the stock is effectively being liquidated (pardon the pun). Is that just an urban legend, I hope?

I tried to find out more about the wine through the winery's website, but the site hasn't been updated since at least last fall. There's no reference to the 2001 Star Ruby listed there. Nothing is scheduled on their "Events" page after April 1, 2005, which means it was probably put on the books a lot earlier. (Also surprisingly, that event was in Omaha, 90 miles from Sioux City. I flew out of Omaha on my way home.) The 2001 Star Ruby is nowhere to be found or mentioned anywhere on the web site. This lends at least potential credence to the wine shop owner's story.

Lots of awards for their wines:

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The 2000 Star Ruby, Cienega Valley scored 89 and won Silver at the 2004 Santa Cruz
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Wineweb.com lists two of their wines for sale, but not the 2001.
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Eleven of their wines are listed at McArthur Wines in D.C., including the '95 cab at $45 and the 2001 Star Ruby at $50.
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So, that's all I know. The wine itself was decent, but drier than a popcorn fart. If I thought the dryness would soften with bottle age I'd probably order up a case, but I'm not sure how age-worthy the wine is. (Thunder Mountain's web site says they build for longevity, but absent any in-depth, independent reviews of the 2001 I'm reluctant to drop $160 plus shipping from Iowa for a case.)

Can anybody confirm, deny, add to this or fill in the obvious blanks?

JJ

Reply to
jj
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Unfortunately it's true. I posted last year that Milan Maximovich , the owner and winemaker at Thunder Mountain had died. I posted here because Milan (under the moniker Milan in Santa Cruz) used to post here in the late 90s. Very informed and informative posts.

Apparently Milan had been sick for a while, but his daughter and son-in-law (Jon Cook) had kept up TM's standards last few years. But after his death I think his widow sold winery, and the winery blew out all remaining inventory at fire sale prices a few months ago.

I haven't had the 2001, but TM's wines are quite good and ARE built for age. The '96 Star Ruby needs another few years. I paid $30 (big discount from list $45) for '96 and frankly would have been satisfied if I paid $45.

Reply to
DaleW

I happened to meet Jon and Kira Maximovich (nice folks) at an offline in SF. She was talking about her recent work at the winery, and I just naturally assumed that she was talking about TM. I suppose she must be working elsewhere now...

Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

In a post elsewhere Jon Cook said that Kira was the winemaker for the

2003s, but they were no longer at TM. According to Jon there were no wines made in the 2004 vintage. Unsure where they are now.

Mark Lipt> > Unfortunately it's true. I posted last year that Milan Maximovich , the

Reply to
DaleW

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