2019 Pinot Noir Rosé

Pale pink in the glass, this wine has sweet aromas of raspberry and cotton candy leading to a rich palate of bright tangerine and sweet yellow apple ending in a lime-peel grip.

Related Blog Post: See our bottling line in action as we package our Rosé.

Vintage

VINTAGE 2019 required experience and courage. After 45 years, we often say there isn’t a harvest we haven’t seen, but 2019 was an odd one. After a warm May and a healthy, early fruit-set, the summer ended cool with no threat of the sunburn or hazy, smoky skies seen in recent years. We expected to pick in early September, but weeks of unseasonably cool weather took us by surprise. Rather than rushing to pick too early, we waited patiently for concentrations and sugar levels to rise, confident that our vineyard practices would protect the fruit.

According to Winemaker/Owner Adam Campbell “You pick your moments. If you’re 100% estate grown and you have impeccable timing – you can grow fantastic fruit in any year. It took months of preparation in the vineyard, and some very long days during crush, but we had a great crew in 2019 and managed to get sugar levels right where we want them.”

Our goal is a minimum 100 days from bloom to harvest; 2019 saw hang times as long as 125 days in some blocks. Expect wines with a big ripe core of concentrated fruit and a bright, fresh profile.

Vineyard

The fruit for this all Pinot Noir Rosé is hand-harvested from select vineyard sites in the Willamette Valley. 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

We gently whole bunch press very ripe Pinot Noir fruit 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 5-45 years
  • Harvest Sugars 22 Brix
  • Vatting Gently whole-cluster pressed, cold fermented in stainless steel tanks. Select pinot noir juice added for texture & color.