Winemaker Notes
The 2018 Sonoma Coast Rosé is based on Syrah from a cool climate vineyard site in one of the newest subregions of Sonoma, the Petaluma Gap. The Syrah brings a delicate aroma of white cherry, kafir lime and red apple, the palate is juicy and fresh with red raspberry and fennel. The wine finishes with a salty minerality and vibrant acidity.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is made entirely from Syrah picked from a cool site near Petaluma. It impresses in its dry, thirst-quenching body and structure, offering complexity within a quaffable package of lovely flavor and texture. Grapefruit, Rainier cherry and apple add to the tart juiciness and stony sea spray.
Editors' Choice -
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Brick & Mortar Rosé writes the book on finely-crafted dry rosé wines. TASTING NOTES: This wine explodes with fresh, red fruit aromas and flavors. Enjoy its scintillating brightness with a sushi handroll of fresh salmon, ripe avocado, and tobiko. (Tasted: February 27, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
Whether it’s playful and fun or savory and serious, most rosé today is not your grandmother’s White Zinfandel, though that category remains strong. Pink wine has recently become quite trendy, and this time around it’s commonly quite dry. Since the pigment in red wines comes from keeping fermenting juice in contact with the grape skins for an extended period, it follows that a pink wine can be made using just a brief period of skin contact—usually just a couple of days. The resulting color depends on grape variety and winemaking style, ranging from pale salmon to deep magenta.
A vast appellation covering Sonoma County’s Pacific coastline, the Sonoma Coast AVA runs all the way from the Mendocino County border, south to the San Pablo Bay. The region can actually be divided into two sections—the actual coastal vineyards, marked by marine soils, cool temperatures and saline ocean breezes—and the warmer, drier vineyards further inland, which are still heavily influenced by the Pacific but not quite with same intensity.
Contained within the appellation are the much smaller Fort Ross-Seaview and Petaluma Gap AVAs.
The Sonoma Coast is highly regarded for elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, increasingly, cool-climate Syrah. The wines have high acidity, moderate alcohol, firm tannin, and balanced ripeness.