2012 Provenance Vineyards Malbec Rosé Napa Valley

Provenance

2012 Provenance Vineyards Malbec Rosé

Vintage 2012

Wine Type Rosé

Varietal Malbec

Region Napa Valley

Winemaker Tom Rinaldi and Chris Cooney

Crisp and dry, with deep rose color and vibrant pomegranate, guava, strawberry and floral character. For our premier 2012 vintage, we selected Malbec and Cabernet Franc grapes from Calistoga, at the northern end of Napa Valley. Fermentation and sur lie aging in stainless steel barrels developed our rosé’s pure fruit expression and silky texture. With the twist-off closure, you don’t need to remember a corkscrew for your picnic!

Appellation: Calistoga
Aging: 100% Barrel Fermented in Stainless Steel Barrels
Varietal Composition: 77% Malbec, 23% Cabernet Franc
ABV: 14.5%
Production: 100 cases

Tasting Notes

Here at Provenance Vineyards, we enjoy a crisp, dry rosé to sip in warm weather, so we decided that it was definitely time to make our own. We chose Malbec and Cabernet Franc from one of our favorite vineyards in Calistoga to give the wine its gorgeous deep-rose color and vibrant pomegranate, guava and rose petal notes. The wine’s fresh acidity and ripe-strawberry finish make it a perfect wine for summer picnics and barbecues. We love it with grilled chicken, gourmet sausages or smoked ham. And when our garden tomatoes are ripe, we add a caprese salad with fresh buffalo mozzarella and fragrant basil.

Vineyard Notes

We hand harvested the Malbec and Cabernet Franc grapes for our rosé from the Peppone Vineyard in Calistoga. This vineyard’s warm mesoclimate and lean, well-drained soils give our red Malbec and Cabernet Franc wines their enticing dark-fruit, rose and spice character, so we knew they would make a delicious rosé too. Malbec, which has been cultivated in France for more than 2,000 years, finds Calistoga’s warm, dry conditions ideal for its temperamental personality. Cabernet Franc, with its similar heritage, also shows great affinity to this site.

Vintage Notes

The quality of the 2012 harvest was fabulous, following a growing season with near-perfect conditions. The year began with ideal rainfall and no significant frost after the vines began spring growth. Mild weather continued through May, assuring successful bloom and berry set. Summer was sunny and dry, but not too hot, with desirably cold nights. Harvest was well paced and easy, with rich, ripe flavors developing at lower sugar levels. After weather challenges in 2011, we felt blessed by a vintage that reminded us why we love growing grapes and making wine.

Winemaking Notes

We hand picked the grapes in the early morning and then lightly crushed them as soon as they arrived at the winery. We cold soaked the juice with the color-rich skins for 36 hours to achieve the vibrant rose color and then bled off the juice (which is called saignée in France) into small, stainless-steel barrels. After the wine fermented dry, we aged it sur lie (on the yeast) to develop the silky texture.