D r y  C r e e k  V a l l e y

ROSE

2007

VARIETAL & VINEYARD:  This wine is 65% Grenache and 35% Mourvedre from our new vineyards planted in 1998 to Grenache Noir clones purchased from Tablas Creek and Alban Vineyards.  These clones, selected from Chateauneuf du Pape, give darker color and better structure than the majority of Grenache planted in California.  Our vines are planted on low-vigor rootstock in 4’x 6’ spacing.

VINTAGE/HARVEST:  2007 was an excellent vintage for both Grenache and Mourvedre.  Lack of rainfall in March and April resulted in smaller than normal berry size.  The smaller berries gave us more intense aromatics and flavors.  We normally reduce the crop 50 to 60%, limiting yield to 6 pounds per vine, to facilitate concentrated flavors.  The reduced crop also allowed us to harvest Grenache and Mourvedre in late October at full ripeness giving us more Rhone-like flavors of raspberry jam, tar, and black pepper.  It also means this is a full-bodied Rosé.

VINIFICATION:  About 80% of our Rosé is made using a technique called saignee, or bleeding juice from the tank of red must immediately after crushing.  We press a small amount of Grenache and Mourvedre as whole clusters to make the balance of the wine.  In order to make bone-dry Rosé, we feel it is important to have a short skin contact to minimize tannins.  The wine is fermented completely dry, and kept 5 months in a stainless steel tank until bottling.  The malo-lactic fermentation was stopped half-way to preserve the natural fresh acidity.

STYLE/DESCRIPTION:  If you’ve been to the South of France you already know what this wine is all about.  A floral and fruity nose leads to a rich and full-bodied wine that can handle a much wider variety of foods than your average white wine.  The Mourvedre, which did particularly well in 2007, really gives this wine a spicy, rich complexity, making it a great food wine.