Tech Sheet

2008 JV Estate Pinot Noir Rosé

Wine Overview:

Our 2008 Rosé exhibits the ripe and rich fruit that the vintage offered. It offers a round and full palate, with a refreshing finish. This Rosé explodes with fruit, and will compliment any summer activity.

Vintage Notes:

2008 was the ultimate cool climate vintage. The growing season started with some apprehension when a frost arrived right when bud break started, already 2-3 weeks later than normal. Fortunately the vines came out unharmed and their growth was right back on schedule by late summer. The next bump to our serenity came toward the end of the vintage; the early October prediction was for solid rain but the vines still needed some days to reach maturity. Luckily, nature was kinder than the weather forecasters and 2008 became a fantastic vintage for the grapes. Cool, breezy and sunny days following a manageable amount of rain allowed all the hang time on the vine necessary for the grapes to develop intense flavors and colors.

Harvest Notes:

Pinot Noir for this Rosé was harvested on October 13th from young vines on the western slopes of our vineyards.

Winemaking Notes:

Our Rosé was made by combining two winemaking methods; one batch was made by pressing the Pinot grapes immediately after they were picked and then fermenting the juice in steel at 50 degrees for 10 weeks. The other process was cold soaking the Pinot grapes for two days (to extract color) before pressing and fermentation. This year we also expanded  our experimentation by fermenting some of the Rosé in neutral oak. Once these lots are blended we add just a small amount of our traditionally fermented Pinot Noir to the Pinot Noir Rosé to deepen the color. We enjoy rising to the challenge that making Rosé from Pinot Noir presents us each vintage.

Tasting Notes:

It’s as if ripe strawberries and red cherries created the aromatics, all leading to dense, ripe, red fruit filled flavors.  Soft and pleasing to the palate, the refreshing finish leaves you wondering why more wineries don’t take pink wine as seriously as we do.

Technical Information: