Winemaker Notes
This Rosé is grown in the Willamette Valley region of Oregon and sourced from Pinot Noir grapes. The wine opens with vibrant aromatics of ruby red grapefruit, orange blossom, strawberry and watermelon. The palate is juicy and displays fresh raspberry, kiwi and floral honeysuckle flavors while remaining bright and balanced with refreshing acidity. The finish carries tropical papaya and guava essences well beyond the sip.
Serve with complex, spicy and herbal dishes that highlight fresh spring and summer ingredients. Also enjoy with seafood like seared ahi tuna, shellfish and fish and chips, curried chicken salad and other pairings with harissa sauce, sweet potato fries, antipasto platters and cheese plates.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Fashioned from free-run juice, this outstanding rosé is fresh and delicious. Crushed strawberry, rose water and touches of cherry show on the well-balanced palate, offset by bright acidity.
Editors' Choice
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Wine & Spirits
Floral and fresh, with lifted scents of rose hips and strawberries, this has a mild tea-like grip that calls for food, like peppered mackerel. Best Buy
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.
One of Pinot Noir's most successful New World outposts, the Willamette Valley is the largest and most important AVA in Oregon. With a continental climate moderated by the influence of the Pacific Ocean, it is perfect for cool-climate viticulture and the production of elegant wines.
Mountain ranges bordering three sides of the valley, particularly the Chehalem Mountains, provide the option for higher-elevation vineyard sites.
The valley's three prominent soil types (volcanic, sedimentary and silty, loess) make it unique and create significant differences in wine styles among its vineyards and sub-AVAs. The iron-rich, basalt-based, Jory volcanic soils found commonly in the Dundee Hills are rich in clay and hold water well; the chalky, sedimentary soils of Ribbon Ridge, Yamhill-Carlton and McMinnville encourage complex root systems as vines struggle to search for water and minerals. In the most southern stretch of the Willamette, the Eola-Amity Hills sub-AVA soils are mixed, shallow and well-drained. The Hills' close proximity to the Van Duzer Corridor (which became its own appellation as of 2019) also creates grapes with great concentration and firm acidity, leading to wines that perfectly express both power and grace.
Though Pinot noir enjoys the limelight here, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay also thrive in the Willamette. Increasing curiosity has risen recently in the potential of others like Grüner Veltliner, Chenin Blanc and Gamay.