2005 Pinot Noir Rosé
Vintage
2005 was an interesting year, with one of the driest winters and wettest springs on record! And unlike recent vintages that brought warmer weather, early ripeness and higher alcohol, this year’s harvest occurred later than most expected, resulting in cooler temperatures that will lead to lower alcohol levels, structured acidity and ideal flavor development. Vintage 2005 in the Willamette Valley will be a return to finesse and elegance, which has long characterized classic Oregon wines. Specifically, the white wines will be brightly aromatic with well-balanced fruit-to-acid ratios and refreshingly normal alcohol levels!
Vineyard
The fruit for this all Pinot Noir Rosé is hand-harvested from Elk Cove’s estate vineyards. For the Rosé, we choose both young and old vines from higher elevation vineyards on their own rootstock. These give us the full flavor development and aromatics needed for a fresh white wine, within a framework of lower alcohol.
Winemaking
Pinot Noir fruit for our Rosé is hand-harvested very ripe and gently whole bunch pressed with limited skin crushing, which makes virtually a “white Pinot Noir”. The wine is fermented cool in stainless steel tanks. Then carefully selected lots of fermented red Pinot Noir juice is blended back for color and texture. Our Pinot Noir Rosé is finished completely dry.
Viticultural & Enological Data
- Vine Age 20 years
- Yield 2.8 tons/acre
- Harvest Sugars 23.5 Brix
- pH 3.25
- Vatting Gently whole-cluster pressed, cold fermented in small stainless steel tanks. Select lots of pinot noir juice added back for color.
- Cases Produced 739
