2009 Pinot Noir Rosé
Vintage
2009 was a vintage of abundance. Ideal springtime weather led to a hot summer, which gave us a beautiful, uniform and potentially prolific crop. Warm temperatures at harvest time lulled some growers into picking late, at potentially high alcohols. The right decision, top winemakers agree, was to get the grapes in while they still had fresh flavors. As always, we showed our commitment to quality by thinning and green harvesting to acheive earlier ripening and better concentration of flavors. As winemaker, Adam Campbell, states “harvest went off without a hitch and we picked the grapes at a deliberate but frankly leisurely pace which allowed focusing on retained acidity.” So, vintage 2009 may be remembered as one of those rare combinations of excellent quality and quantity, with the wines showing flash.
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 17 years
- Yield 3 tons/acre
- Harvest Sugars 22.3 Brix
- pH 3.52
- Vatting Gently whole-cluster pressed, cold fermented in small stainless steel tanks. Select lots of pinot noir juice added back for color.
- Cases Produced 1,850
