Usually when someone mentions Rosé wines from Lodi I don’t get too excited. In the past I have found them either too sweet or to high in alcohol and lacking in flavor. I am happy to say that has changed. We participated in an online tasting of Lodi Rosé wines a few days ago and each wine was very good. LoCA, The Wines of Lodi California, along with Charles Communications sent us and several other bloggers four bottles, Heritage Oak Winery, Sorelle Winery, McCay Cellars and Onesta.
We all got together on CCA’s BrandLive Channel to taste and talk and tweet and ask questions of Camron King, Executive Director of the Lodi Winegrape Commission and well known Lodi winemaker Chad Joseph, who were on a live video feed telling us about each wine. These online tasting are really fun, you get to try several wines and learn about them at the same time.
As I mentioned there were four Rosé wines provided. Each was a different grape variety or blend of varieties but were surprisingly close in color, just minor differences in the intensity of the colors. The Sorelle Bella E Rossa and McCay Cellars just slightly lighter than the others.
The 2012 Heritage Oak is 100% Grenache and only 12.5% abv. Only 100 cases were made and the nose and flavor really make me think of Grenache. We all pick up different things but I get red roses from Grenache, nose and flavor. Also some melon and red fruit, great acidity. This was Nancy’s and Dave’s favorite.
The 2012 Sorelle Winery Bella E Rossa is a blend of 50% Sangiovese and 50% Barbera. Real refreshing, crisp, great spicy red fruit. Plenty of flavor without going too far. My only criticism would be the alcohol level at 14%. For a wine as nice to drink as this I want to sit in the backyard and drink more than one or two glasses.
McCay Cellars 2012 Rosé is made from 102 year old Carignane along with some Grenache. As I mentioned, just a little lighter color and a light mouthfeel. Very nice red fruit and mineral flavor with some undertones I can’t describe. A very nice blend of grapes. This is my favorite and what I will be drinking in the backyard later this afternoon.
Next we have the 2012 Onesta Bechtold Vineyard Rosé. The Bechtold vineyard was originally planted in 1886 and is the oldest vineyard in the Lodi AVA. It is dry farmed and the old vines are head trained. The wine is made from Cinsault and 50% is Saignée and the rest is fruit picked specifically to go in the rosé. There is a creamy mouthfeel and slight tannins as the wine is aged on the lees for six months. This mellows out the acidity and adds some roundness to the red fruit flavors.
I’ll have to say I am impressed with these Rosé wines from Lodi. Nancy and I have been on a rosé quest the past couple of years and have been trying wines from around the world. Lodi has really been improving over the recent years and if you like rosé you should certainly try these.
Disclaimer: These wines were provided as tasting samples.
