2010 Vin Gris (Dry Rosé)
history
One of the great stories of the last decade is the rise of dry rosé as a popular wine. Finally, people have come to appreciate its wonderful flexibility and enjoy rosé for the purity of the flavors. In 2010, we increased our production of our Vin Gris—a blend of Grenache, Petite Sirah, and a tiny amount of Zinfandel—to meet the rising demand. This was an ideal year to make Vin Gris, since the lots of wine had great acidity and balance, making a crisp, mouthfilling wine that would hold up to a wide variety of foods.
As is typical with our Vin Gris, the majority grape in the blend is Grenache. We feel that our Dry Creek Grenache makes all the difference in this wine, adding a texture and mouthfeel that is rich enough to make for a complex rosé, but light enough to support the delicacy of the wine.
This is a great rosé wine—a beautiful reddish strawberry hue, wild strawberry nose, crisp structure, and a long finish. It is structured like a classic European rosé, completely dry and delicious. It’s an absolutely perfect wine to use as an aperitif, or with a light meal.
production
To make this Vin Gris we “bled off” juice from tanks of Grenache, Petite Sirah, and Zinfandel fruit from our Dry Creek vineyards. This technique—used in France for generations—allows us to concentrate the flavors in certain lots by reducing the amount of juice in contact with the skins. We waited about ten hours to allow the juice to pick up just enough color, and then bled the tanks through a stainless steel screen.
As is our tradition with all of our Dashe wines, we used the native yeasts on the grapes to conduct the fermentation. Timing is everything in a rosé—we need to have the juice in contact with the skins long enough to pick up a lovely color and attractive flavors, but not so long as to pick up unwanted tannins that can create harshness, or a rough finish.
We kept the fermentation temperature moderate, in the 65-degree range. This longish fermentation preserved the naturally lovely fruit aromatics, while helping to develop lush, complex flavors in the finished wine. We fermented the wine completely dry, as separate lots, and then carefully blended together to create a structured, layered wine. We bottled the wine in late February and allowed it to sit for two months before release to let the fresh fruit flavors emerge from the bottled wine.
Production Notes
| Varietals: | 55% Grenache, 30% Petite Sirah, 15% Zinfandel |
| Appellation: | Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County |
| Alcohol: | 13.4% by vol. |
| Production: | 235 cases, 750mL |
| Release date: | April 25th, 2011 |
| Sugg. retail price: | $14.00 bottle, 750mL |
| Arnomas: | Wild strawberry, raspberry, and cherry mixed with mineral and spice |
Tasting Notes
| Color: | Dark strawberry-red |
| Taste: | Extremely vibrant and structured on entry. Beautiful wild strawberry fruit, along with fresh raspberry, dried cherry, and minerals. |
