After working with Counoise for the past 4 vintages, we decided to make a change in 2020 to Sangiovese for a couple reasons. For a healthy layer of flor to form over a wine, one needs the tricky combination of both elevated alcohol AND elevated acidity, which can be difficult to attain given the natural ripening trajectory of grapes (as sugars go up, acid goes down). But, with Sangiovese’s ability to ripen while maintaining high acid, we felt it to be an ideal candidate. It’s also a grape with more inherent personality than Counoise in terms of its aromatic profile, and we suspected it would express a sense of place and varietal character without being completely dominated by the aromatics of the flor. To make a long story short (too late), this wine is stunning, hands down the best rosé we’ve ever produced; hell, probably one of our favorite wines we’ve ever made period. The first thing you’ll notice is this is MUCH more deeply colored than our past rosés. Its color falls somewhere between a rosé and a very light red, with a bit of Sangiovese’s classic brick/orange tint. This is due in part to our varied skin contact times, which ranged from 1 hour up to 24 hours in 2020. We also, as we had hoped, saw great flor formation, with the fluffy white layer one sees in Sherry. There is a savory depth to this wine, coupled with abundant fruit and succulent acid, that make it incredibly moreish. This isn’t just a summer sipper, this is a wine of contemplation (though we’d be perfectly happy drinking a bottle solo and contemplating a nap). We bottled it in 500 ml bottles and have also designed a completely new label for it, to highlight its truly unique character. Break out your most umami-forward foods and share with your loved ones.