Smoke Tree Rose 2017
-
Tasting
Panel
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Fresh and vibrant, Smoke Tree Rosé offers aromas of guava, apricot, and tropical fruits. The palate echoes the nose with flavors of crabapple and quince paste. The finish is crisp and refreshing.
Smoke Tree Rosé is delicious on its own. If pairing with food, local and seasonal fare is ideal. Think vibrant salads, artisanal grains or local seafood, simply grilled.
To make the perfect rosé, Joel searches for fruit with balanced acidity and fresh flavors. He navigates around the dominance of intense, dark red fruit by finding sites with warm temperatures, minimal diurnal shift, and sandy or gravelly soils. Old vines offer character, so the final blend combines old vine Zinfandel and bush-trained Grenache with smaller percentages of Mourvedre and Syrah. Most of the vineyards are located in Mendocino, Lodi and Lake Counties, with a small portion from Madera County. All Smoke Tree’s vineyard partners are sustainable, and some are organic.
Blend: 44% Zinfandel, 40% Grenache, 8% Mourvedre, 8% Syrah
Professional Ratings
-
Tasting Panel
Soft nose dominated by peach; dry, luscious, and crisp with notes of nectarine and apple. Fresh and racy with a lush finish, this salmon-pink release blends 44% Zinfandel, 40% Grenache, 8% Mourvèdre, and 8% Syrah.
Other Vintages
2018-
Wilfred
Wong
-
Wilfred
Wong
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.