Displaying items by tag: sainte rose rosé

Bringing in the Pink!

Wednesday, 07 September 2011 12:49

Bringing In the pink!

Having had a resounding success with our 2010 Coquille d’Oc Rosé (i.e. practically sold out!), the team at Sainte Rose are keen to continue this momentum into the next vintage. This year we are making more of it and we are taking an almost obsessive interest in the grape varieties that we will use for the blend to make sure that this Rosé continues to exceed the expectations of those who know and love it!

This process began last weekend when we picked Grenache and Syrah, the two key grape varieties that are the basis of the blend. Flavour is the most important factor when deciding when to pick, as are sugar levels, which translate into potential alcohol. Once harvesting, colour then takes over in importance as we are aiming for a soft, pale pink end colour, not a light red!

As the video below explains, we treat the red varieties as if they were white grapes, putting them straight through the destemmer and crusher and into the press. After a gentle press cycle all the juice ends up off the skins. This is to avoid extracting too much colour. Grenache generally has very pale juice, however Syrah has naturally red juice so must be handled very delicately to avoid too much extraction.

Mourvedre is the final variety that will be used in the ultimate Coquille d’Oc Rosé blend. This is a later ripening variety that true to form is not yet ready to pick. With two out of three of our pinks in the winery we are already looking forward to the blending process and will aim to bottle the 2011 Rosé early in the new year.