A Rosé Of Pinot Plucked From San Pablo Bay.

Updated: Jun 19, 2019

Many wine lovers would drop their jaws knowing that a Pinot Noir grown in such a unique and exiguous AVA was used to make a Rosé, but then they'd probably drink it and forget about being such fuddy-duddies. To be fair though, they would have a point...

I’ve remarked about Carneros a number of times, usually when reviewing Dalia Ceja’s Chardonnay, but you really can’t get a much better area for growing grapes...and it’s an incredible area to just drive through. Stunning vineyards and rolling hills with cool breezes passing over and through scrub oak and wild grass, which is basically everywhere. I would recommend to anyone visiting Napa or Sonoma to take a couple hours out of your day and drive through Carneros, and hopefully stop for a tasting or two...duh.

Having grown up in the Napa Valley, I'm familiar with almost every corner of it. Backroads, PG&E trails, shortcuts and crossroads. That being said, I understand that the Los Carneros AVA (or most of it) is under the umbrella of the Napa valley, buuuuut it isn’t really in the Napa Valley. It’s kind of its own little ecosystem, and a pretty special one at that, which is why I recall remarking about it more than a few times before. The grapes for this wine were grown overlooking the San Pablo Bay, which affords them a completely different menagerie of growing conditions, like the wind and moisture from the bay, while also being rooted in a legendary mixture of soils from the Napa Valley and the adjacent Sonoma Valley AVA. All of which makes this tiny area unique among all areas of the Napa Valley. I think that’s pretty phenomenal and the area should get a great deal more respect and admiration among the entire wine community. Let's hear it for Carneros!! (*cheers heard in the distance)

The above map is great for general knowledge of Napa Valley AVAs (I learned a few things myself) but it fails to show the true relation of the bay and mountains to the Los Carneros AVA. Much of the area around the river (blue squiggle below Los Carneros) is a huge marsh with the corresponding ecosystem in full effect. And as you can see, while the bulk of the valley AVAs line up nicely within the valley, the Los Carneros AVA bends around the foot of a mountain range and sprawls into what most tourists would assume was Sonoma and the foot of the Sonoma Valley AVA. So basically it's at the foot of two valleys while not actually in either one. Add the fog and coastal breezes from the bay and you have an AVA that should really exist on its own. VIVA LOS CARNEROS! Am I repeating myself?

Ok, Erik, lets get to the wine, shall we??

~Matt Parish Los Carneros Rosé of Pinot Noir, 2018

The Review: 3.5/5

A day-drinkers delight!

This is a sunshine and funshine… wait... Sunday funday… either way, this is something I will absolutely crush on any sun-drenched day that ends in “y”.

The first note that marches across your palate is strawberry... and maybe some raspberry... mixed with and undertone of creamsicle, “red berry” flavored I would guess. This is one of those wines that tastes exactly like its color, which is a beautiful, coral-ish, rosey, bright pink with a touch of pink-leaning peach. And it’s stunning how clear it is once it's in a glass. Them filters are working overtime haha.

It’s quite scrumptious and seems to have much more body and roundness than I expected. Almost crisp, but not quite. There’s a softness to it... but there’s so much flavor that I find it hard to consider it soft. Maybe more like “gentle”. But that doesn’t seem right either. Ugh.

The sugar is definitely a level or two above the acidity and I’d say it’s on the dry side. I’m thinking this would pair well with some cold, fresh fruit and a nutty or creamy cheese. Almost anything made from goat’s milk would do nicely. I loooove me some goat cheese!!!

Cheers!!