Winemaker Notes
This 2022 Rosé is another classic Ojai Vineyard rosé—pale, brisk, and bursting with fragrance. It’s like there’s half a flower shop in the glass, stacked with layers of tropical fruit, citrus, and minerals that make for a heady complexity. Up front the palate is creamy and substantial; some of that tropical flair mingles with white pastry and orange peel. Then it shifts into a racier reverberance when notes of white raspberry and passion fruit kick in, along with a fine minerally grit.
It’s a perfect a la carte evening-starter, but it’s super food-friendly—great with tacos (especially al pastor), shellfish, or spicy noodle dishes.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This blend of fruit from Santa Barbara and Ventura counties offers a pale, slightly yellow color in the glass and elegant floral aromas on the delicate nose. The palate is tightly wound and packed with energetic acidity, showing chalk, brisk grapefruit and zesty pluot flavors.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2022 Rose might be the finest rosé I've tasted from this team, and it stays in the fresh, vibrant style of the estate while bringing solid richness and depth. Orange blossom, chalky minerality, and tangerine notes all define this light salmon-hued beauty that offers bright acidity, terrific balance, and a distinct salinity on the finish. Bravo.
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.
Responsible for the vast majority of American wine production, if California were a country, it would be the world’s fourth largest wine-producing nation. The state’s diverse terrain and microclimates allow for an incredible range of red wine styles, and unlike tradition-bound Europe, experimentation is more than welcome here. California wineries range from tiny, family-owned boutiques to massive corporations, and price and production are equally varied. Plenty of inexpensive bulk wine is made in the Central Valley area, while Napa Valley is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious and expensive “cult” wines.
Each American Viticultural Area (AVA) and sub-AVA of has its own distinct personality, allowing California to produce red wine of every fashion: from bone dry to unctuously sweet, still to sparkling, light and fresh to rich and full-bodied. In the Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc dominate vineyard acreage. Sonoma County is best known for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Rosé and Zinfandel. The Central Coast has carved out a niche with Rhône Blends based on Grenache and Syrah, while Mendocino has found success with cool climate varieties such as Pinot noir, Riesling and Gewürztraminer. With all the diversity that California wine has to offer, any wine lover will find something to get excited about here.