Winemaker's Notes
This has been an evolution for us beginning in 1997. Like the Zinfandoodle, we gave it a slightly different twist on our normal label design, giving an additional designation of ‘explorations.’ Over time, I’ve realized this was somewhat conflicting for me because I am quite serious about the Rosé. So while the wines may continue to evolve as they should, it’s no longer a naked exploration (we have a map now) and so we decided it was time to put the Rosé into the regular label design.
During the past three vintages we have incorporated whole-cluster pressed Syrah into our program with excellent outcome. As I also began to study Grenache this past year, I have found that it is a perfect counterpoint to the Syrah [yes, I’m a slow learner]— so much so that I did not see a need to rob some of our Zinfandel or Pinot Noir juice for this blend as before. We stand at about 70% Syrah and 30% Grenache with this vintage. It seems to be nearly a carbon copy of last year’s Rosé with maybe a little lighter touch on the typewriter keys — it has a little more pronounced sense of minerality and is slightly more floral rather than fruity aromas. I actually prefer it by a slight margin to the 2010, which I wondered if we could top. Our recent experimentation with screw caps has sent me to bottle the entire commercial vintage of 750’s with the closure because this wine tastes better during its normal lifetime under that closure. [I am cautiously exploring how other wines respond to this closure over their expected lifetimes as well.] There should be enough of this wine to last thru the open houses and into part of the summer, at least.
