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Vineyards
Vin de Porche (no accent required) is our limited-production rendition of a classic dry French rosé. Best described by its name, it is meant to be enjoyed well-chilled on your porch with casual foods, especially grilled, spicy fare.
Vintage 2011
In 2011, California experienced one of its coldest, wettest and latest vintages in memory, a true “European-style” year. Wet winter and spring weather extended into mid-June, delaying and disrupting budbreak, bloom and fruit set and setting the stage for a cool summer growing season that culminated in a prolonged harvest beset by autumn rains. Experienced growers compensated for these challenging conditions by removing leaves from the vines to admit more sunlight and thinning bunches to ensure the remaining grape clusters ripened fully. These practices enabled us to produce many fine, elegant, full-flavored wines in 2011, including our Vin de Porche rosé.
Winemaking
Making a world-class dry rosé requires handling the fruit very gently to extract just the right amount of color and achieve an ideal balance of fresh, vivid aromas, bright acidity and delicate, fruit-forward flavors. To accomplish these goals, we lightly press the whole clusters and maintain a blanket of CO2 over the juice at all times to limit oxidation. Juice color is carefully monitored, with several press ‘fractions’ (portions of the juice drained from the press at intervals based on color extraction) used to increase blending opportunities. In 2011, we cold-settled each press ‘cut’ for 36 hours, then transferred 55% of the juice to 75-gallon stainless steel barrels for fermentation, with the other 45% fermenting in neutral French oak barrels. To fully capture the wine’s fresh, vibrant fruit character, we bottled this lovely rosé after just three months’ aging.
Tasting Notes
Our 2011 Vin de Porche displays a luminous salmon color and vividly fresh and enticing strawberry, raspberry, cherry and watermelon aromas complemented by notes of citrus, mineral and vanilla. Fluid and silky on the palate, the wine’s juicy cherry and raspberry flavors pick up a zesty pepper spice tone in the long, lip-smacking, mineral-edged finish. An elegant, European-style dry rosé, Vin de Porche is a marvelous accompaniment to many foods, from picnic fare and pasta salads to grilled salmon and chicken, country ham and spicy Asian and Latin dishes.
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Grape variety:
90% Syrah, 7% Zinfandel, 3% Primitivo
Alcoholic Content:
13.5%
Vineyards:
Napa Valley and Lake ounty
Total Acidity:
0.61g/100ml
pH: 3.58
Harvest Date:
Septemer 30 thru October 15, 2011
Barrel-aging:
55% stainless steel and 45% neutral oak barrels
Winemaker:
Julianne Laks |
