Winemaker Notes
Michael Cruse, the leader of California’s sparkling wine revolution, produces this rosé from the Charles Heitz vineyard, and the site’s signature saline minerality is front and centre here. Notes of red berry fruit, baked rhubarb and smoky, caremelized blood orange are equally evocative of the wine’s Sonoma Coast origins. A refined mousse frames a wine with Californian volume but taught acidity.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Rosé Heintz Vineyard is the first commercial release of the Heintz sparkling rosé. It has a pale onion skin color and fully mature yet layered aromas of graphite, mushroom powder, iodine, coffee beans and burnt sugar. The light-bodied palate is dry and creamy, restrained and mineral-driven, with bright acidity and a pastry-laced finish.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
Home to a diverse array of smaller AVAs with varied microclimates and soil types, Sonoma County has something for every wine lover. Physically twice as large as Napa Valley, the region only produces about half the amount of wine but boasts both tremendous quality and variety. With its laid-back atmosphere and down-to-earth attitude, the wineries of Sonoma are appreciated by wine tourists for their friendliness and approachability. The entire county intends to become a 100% sustainable winegrowing region by 2019.
Sonoma County wines are produced with carefully selected grape varieties to reflect the best attributes of their sites—Dry Creek Valley’s consistent sunshine is ideal for Zinfandel, while the warm Alexander Valley is responsible for rich, voluptuous red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are important throughout the county, most notably in the cooler AVAs of Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros. Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Syrah have also found a firm footing here.