A Rosé in the Style of the Southern Rhône Redwood Valley in Mendocino County is a patchwork quilt of picturesque old vineyards where “wine growing” has been a family agricultural tradition for several generations. At Fife Vineyards, in addition to our own Estate Grapes, we are fortunate to be able to work with many of these local growers and crush select lots of grapes. We look for well-tended, older vines on rocky vineyard sites that offer low yields and give us concentrated flavors that translate into unique wines. What to Expect from This Wine The 2005 Fife Vineyards Redhead Rosé is inspired by the elegant and crisp flavors of the rosés from France's Southern Rhône and Provence. Like the best of these wines, we consider our Redhead Rosé as a red wine meant to be chilled. A crisp wine packed full of fresh fruit flavors with hints of cherry, red raspberry, and pomegranate. We serve it as a “stand-alone” aperitif and quaff it with seafood, BBQ, olives and cheeses, and most Pacific Rim cuisine. About the HarvestThe spring was drier than ususal and from late May through harvest it was completely dry. The vines remained healthy and ripened through long, warm weather in September and early October. In the end, we received tremendous flavors without the sugar levels becoming too elevated. The Secret: Bleeding We destem the ripe grapes and deliver them to a holding tank. We allow contact between cool juice and skins for a few days to obtain a gentle diffusion of color and pre-fermentation fruit flavors. “La methôde saignée” is how French vignerons refer to the “bleeding off” of juice after this skin contact. The juice is cool-fermented and maintained at cool temperatures in a stainless tank until bottling captures its freshness. Download Printable Version
Fife Redhead Rosé Mendocino 2005
Region: Mendocino
Winery: Fife
Variety: Carignane
Rating:
A Rosé in the Style of the Southern Rhône Redwood Valley in Mendocino County is a patchwork quilt of picturesque old vineyards where “wine growing” has been a family agricultural tradition for several generations. At Fife Vineyards, in addition to our own Estate Grapes, we are fortunate to be able to work with many of these local growers and crush select lots of grapes. We look for well-tended, older vines on rocky vineyard sites that offer low yields and give us concentrated flavors that translate into unique wines. What to Expect from This Wine The 2005 Fife Vineyards Redhead Rosé is inspired by the elegant and crisp flavors of the rosés from France's Southern Rhône and Provence. Like the best of these wines, we consider our Redhead Rosé as a red wine meant to be chilled. A crisp wine packed full of fresh fruit flavors with hints of cherry, red raspberry, and pomegranate. We serve it as a “stand-alone” aperitif and quaff it with seafood, BBQ, olives and cheeses, and most Pacific Rim cuisine. About the HarvestThe spring was drier than ususal and from late May through harvest it was completely dry. The vines remained healthy and ripened through long, warm weather in September and early October. In the end, we received tremendous flavors without the sugar levels becoming too elevated. The Secret: Bleeding We destem the ripe grapes and deliver them to a holding tank. We allow contact between cool juice and skins for a few days to obtain a gentle diffusion of color and pre-fermentation fruit flavors. “La methôde saignée” is how French vignerons refer to the “bleeding off” of juice after this skin contact. The juice is cool-fermented and maintained at cool temperatures in a stainless tank until bottling captures its freshness. Download Printable Version
Posted by thewinery on January 2nd, 2009 at 10:39pm | report comment