Mayacamas Grenache Rosé

Mt. Veeder, Napa Valley

Vineyards and Winemaking

Each year we strive to create wines that reflect site, vintage, and style. Our grapegrowing and winemaking processes seek to highlight the elegance and finesse of the Grenache noir grape through our Grenache Rosé. Our Grenache block sits just below the winery on the east side of our 475-acre Estate at 1,800ft in elevation. The soils in this block are fractured volcanic tuff and silty clay. Planted on a southeast facing slope, these vines have great exposure for ripening. This planting is a clonal field blend from our favorite Grenache vineyards in Sonoma and Napa. The vineyards have been farmed organically since 2013.

Harvest

Grenache Rosé harvest is typically the last week of August or first week of September. The grapes are hand harvested early in morning and delivered to the winery cold to preserve their integrity. Our winemaking team then inspect and sort clusters as we begin the pressing process. The grapes are pressed whole-cluster at low pressures in our horizontal tank press. To keep the color pale pink/salmon maceration is limited to the 2-hour press cycle. Juice settling and clarification occur at cool temperatures in stainless steel. The juice is then racked off lees and moved to oak cooperage and stainless-steel drum for alcoholic fermentation.

Fermentation typically takes two to four weeks at cellar temperature– though each lot has its own unique fermentation dynamics. Bâtonnage may be used with slower fermentations but is not typical. Malolactic fermentation is prohibited.

Aging

Fermentation and aging occur in 132-gallon (500L) French oak puncheon and 80-gallon (300L) stainless steel drums. No new oak is used. Élevage is 6 to 8 months – vintage dependent.