Kelly Johnson entered the wine industry 17 years ago, first as a wine chemist and worked her way up to managing one of the country’s largest wineries, Trinchero Family Estate/Sutter Home. “I learned how to make ‘safe’ enjoyable wines that most consumers found agreeable, but frustrated by the limitations of a 22 million case winery, began making wine myself in the Napa Valley,” she says.
Since returning to her hometown of Lyle in 2014, she vowed to make the same wines she made in Napa but from fruit mostly sourced from the Columbia River Gorge. “Stable but unique wines, lightly filtered and minimally processed, wines that require even more attention, as I can’t rely on filters and preservatives to fix everything,” she says.
Kelly works with enologist Darren Michaels, who has made wines from Santa Barbara to Sonoma County, and the two also operate Big River Laboratories, providing testing and analysis services to other wineries, breweries and cideries.
“Tetrahedron is a shape. The shape of a water molecule,” Kelly says. “Since my background is in the sciences and wine is mostly water, Tetrahedron just seemed to make sense. It’s also a play on purity. The cleaner the water, the more perfect the tetrahedron.”
Crafted in tiny lots, the wines are incredibly distinctive, pure and highly expressive. Visit the quaint tasting room in Lyle at 421 State Street, Lyle; www.tetrahedronwines.com
Here are 4 wines we recently reviewed:
Tetrahedron 2015 Charbono, $38
Editor’s Choice – Outstanding (91-95 pts.)
Reminiscent of the food-friendly reds of northern Italy like Dolcetto or Barbera, this red varietal was sourced from a vineyard near the Napa Valley, and the palate is loaded with blackberry, raspberry and blueberry flavors spiced with cumin, cinnamon and leather notes that carry through the supple finish.
Tetrahedron 2015 Bangsund Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, $28
Editor’s Choice – Outstanding (91-95 pts.)
This medium-bodied version shows excellent structure, touting dark fruit flavors and aromas of black currant mingled with cocoa, loamy earth and spice. The tannins are tamed yet offer solid grip as they glide along the well-balanced finish.
Tetrahedron 2016 Smith-Cerne Vineyard Sauvignon blanc, $24
Editor’s Choice – Outstanding (91-95 pts.)
Steely and austere, with crisp, dry flavors of green apple, lemon-lime citrus and wetstone. The bone dry palate gains depth on the mid-palate, finishing with a weightier feel and subtle notes of hazelnut and limestone.
Tetrahedron 2016 “Achromatic” Graves Vineyard Grenache, $24
Editor’s Choice – Excellent (86-90 pts.)
Sourced from old vines planted in the 1960’s in Dallesport, Wash., this white-hued Grenache starts with aromas of pear, tropical fruit and rocky earth lead to a focused beam of racy minerality on the crisp palate, interlaced with lemon, lime and green apple flavors with more earth and wet stone accents on the finish.