We Love Rosé!

Yes, we all love rosé! But how much do you know about this incredibly refreshing and delicious style wine? No, I’m not talking about the sweet white Zinfandel stuff Mom use to quaff with her cackling girlfriends in the early 90’s. I’m referring to those bright, crisp and extremely fruit-driven blush wines that have gained so much popularity over the last couple of years. Whether you are new to sipping rosés or just care to know more about this summer’s best porch-pounder, please read on.     

A rosé can be made in a variety of ways. Our favorite method of producing this delightfully invigorating wine is called a saignée (seen-yay!), which is French for “bleed”. This rather traditional practice involves bleeding out, or removing some of the juice from a non-fermenting red vat after a short contact period (maceration) with the skins. The resulting juice is still light in color but contains various components such as polyphenolic acid, which adds flavor and volume to the finished wine.
 
At 2Plank, we give our rosé a little extra soaking–about 18 hours on the skins. We find this add extra color and dimensionality to the finished wine. After the soak, the juice is transferred to barrel where it undergoes fermentation and aging until complete dryness. The dryness of this rosé balances nicely with the fruit and acidity to create a unique wine that embraces the darker side of this style spectrum.

This is our preferred method because it also benefits our red wines. You see, once the rosé juice is bled out, the remaining skins and juice are left to macerate and become red wine. Since the skin to juice ratio has increased, the resulting red wine will have increased tannin structure and depth of color.
 
While we’d like to claim this method as proprietary, saignées have a long history in French wine production. More specifically, the region of Provence in France is home to some of the earliest known in the world. By mimicking their classic techniques, many Californian producers are now making fresh and fruity rosé that are comparable, if not better, to those from Provence. Furthermore, due to hundreds of French appellations and extreme labeling laws, understanding the labels of a French bottle has become quite difficult for the average consumer. Here in California, we have much more relaxed labeling rules, making it easier for the wine to find our glasses!

If you’d like to know more about the production of rosé, please stop into the tasting room this week. We're pouring two vintages of rosé side-by-side to compare and contrast.

Cheers!

Introducing the release of our first estate grown Rosé of Grenache

Wine: 2014 Rosé Of Grenache
Vineyards: 2Plank Estate Vineyards, Fallbrook, CA
Aging: 18 hours on the skin. Barrel aged 6 months
Production: 25 cases
Wine Club: $17.60
Suggested food pairing:
Seafood Bouillabaisse
Click HERE for great tips on creating this classic dish. 

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