VinoDuo has called Lexington home for 13 years. We’ve been traveling across the country to wine regions for just as long. So how did we miss Turtle Creek Winery, which lies not 15 minutes from our home in the unlikely wine region of Lincoln, MA? An affluent, almost-rural community best known as the home of the marvelous DeCordova Museum, Lincoln will never be mistaken for Paso Robles or Walla Walla.  But somehow, winemaker Kip Kumler has coaxed truly fine wine out of the suburban Massachusetts soil.

The 10-year-old winery produces about 1,000 cases a year and does not have a public tasting room, which adds to the mystique. Turtle Creek’s 4,000 vines include Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, and Riesling, grown on the premises and on a site leased from the town of Lincoln. Kumler also purchases fruit from select grape growers in California and the Finger Lakes region of New York.

On one of the first hot, sunny Saturdays of this tepid New England summer, we signed up for a tour and tasting at Turtle Creek.  We pulled up to Kumler’s stunning estate at 4 PM, the sun beating down on the grapes, the flowers, and us (and eight other lucky souls.)  A management consultant in his former life, Kumler clearly relishes his new career as a gentleman winemaker.  He spoke passionately and in some detail about the science and technology behind crafting world-class wine in a cold climate.  For Gary, the talk was illuminating. For Lisa, melting in the afternoon sun, the cool darkness of the barrel room beckoned.



Before we reached the tasting room we got an up close tour of the winery. Kumler spoke with pride about the international terroir of each piece of winemaking equipment, putting in a plug for globalization as he pointed out state-of-the-art equipment from Europe, Asia, and the Americans.  Resembling a very cool, high-tech science lab, Turtle Creek’s winery confirms that Kumler has put more than his heart and soul into the wine…he’s invested quite a lot of money, too.  Lucky for him—and for wine lovers – his investment has paid off handsomely, as we discovered when we at last entered the tasting room.

Cut to the Chase — What We Bought

Dry Riesling 2006    $16
The grapes come from Sheldrake Vineyard in the Finger Lakes, where VinoDuo is heading on vacation in late August. Will stop in and say hello to the Riesling grapes, which will make their way down the Mass Turnpike to Lincoln after the next harvest. Turtle Creek’s dry Riesling was fresh, clean, with flavors of grapefruit and tart apple. Kumler released the wine in September 2008 after 10 months in stainless and a year in the bottle. He produced just 624 bottles; we feel lucky to have snagged one of them.

Estate Cabernet Franc Conservation Hill 2007    $25
Turtle Creek produces two Cab Francs, one with grapes from the Russian River Valley (CA) the other from Conservation Hill in Lincoln, MA. Despite our locavore leanings, we fully expected to prefer the California vintage. We were wrong. The Estate bottled Cab Franc was an absolute winner. Deep, refined, with flavors of chocolate and caramel, some pepper, and of course more asset given its local provenance. Kumler blends in 5-10% West coast grapes, ages the wine 13 months in French oak, and lets it rest for four months before releasing.  Just 240 bottles of this fab Cab Franc were produced.



What Else We Tasted
Kumler put out quite a spread for this seven-wine tasting, with some marvelous farmstead cheeses and an assortment of freshly baked breads to complement the wine. We’re told that’s not an everyday occurrence, but there were some special guests in our tasting, so we benefited from their presence.

Estate Chardonnay, Conservation Hill 2008    $25
This locally grown Chard at a lovely honeysuckle knows and a beautiful, light hay color. But we found it rather thin and lacking in discernable flavor.

Sauvignon Blanc 2008        $16
All Lisa needed to know about this Sauvignon Blanc was that the grapes came from Napa. An avowed New Zealand SB groupie, she has yet to find a domestic version to match the great Down Under style. Gary and Lisa both picked up some grass on the nose and some peach on the palate, but for Lisa, there was no characteristic NZ zing; Gary liked this wine.

Chardonnay 2008    $16
These grapes came from the Carneros region of Napa and the wine is no worse than the wear for the long trip. At least three shades darker than the Estate Chard, we found it to have a nice clean flavor, with apples and pears and a hint of cream. Delicious!

Zinfandel 2006        $16
No, Kumler has not found a way to grow Zin in the Boston suburbs.  He imports his grapes from Wildwood Vineyards in Amador County, California.  But don’t expect a big fat juicy, chewy, smoky Zin.  As the Turtle Creek website puts it, this Zinfandel is “idiosyncratic, with half of the grapes left on skins, after fermentation, for two months.”  So you lose color, and you lose some POW!  What you gain is some earthiness and, according to Kumler, elegance.  Well, call us rubes, but if we wanted elegance we would order a Pinot Noir.  We do look forward with great anticipation to the 2009 Zin, which Kip says will have more depth of color and more Zin impact.

Cabernet Franc 2007        $20
This is the Cab Franc from California grapes we expected to prefer over the local contender.  And while we voted with our pocketbook, buying two bottles of the Estate wine, we found this version perfectly drinkable. A beautiful deep color, with prominent cherry flavors and a hint of anise, the wine had nice tannin structure and a long finish.

If you live in Boston, we urge you to e-mail Turtle Creek Winery and make a reservation  for a tour and tasting—they happen most Saturdays and Sundays at 4 PM.  Or you can visit the website for a listof area wine shops that sell some or most Turtle Creek varietals.

If you don’t live in Massachusetts, you may be SOL, as the winery lacks distribution beyond the Bay State.  So come for a visit. Lincoln is a beautiful town, and when you drive by Lexington, thank VinoDuo for filling you in on this small, ambitious winery.