2004 Robert Sinskey Vin Gris of Pinot Noir

This is the rosé of stress that turned into the rosé of celebration. I had big plans for this WBW, and have five different rosés socked away. I was going to compare and contrast! I was going to drink more than one! And then Helsinki happened. Or didn't happen, really.

As of last Wednesday, I had a trip to Helsinki planned for work the week of the 15th. As of Thursday, nobody was going. As of Friday, no one was sure who was going but somebody was going. As of yesterday, we the involved were going, and I rushed to find a ticket and buy one. As of 5.15 this (Tuesday) afternoon, I was not going and wasn't supposed to. In between all that fun the last few days have been a lot of scrambling and preparation and you name it for this trip.

So I just spent some nerve-wracking time on the phone with Joshua of Expedia (who rocks) and he got everything cancelled and sorted out and once I return the power adapters I picked up, the only money I am out for the trip is for some books and magazines I picked up to read on the plane, things I will happily read anyway. And now I can do the things I wanted to do the weekends before and after without fear of stress or jetlag.

While I was on the phone dealing with this latest crisis I remembered that I needed to drink some rosé for Wine Blogging Wednesday 9, and here we are! I am only doing one, and I decided to get out a bottle of the Robert Sinskey, since everybody is going so nuts for it around these parts. I was hoping it would live up to the Etude Rosé, which I had about two weeks ago, and it was so good I am trying to track some more down.

In any case, I will either have to drink and post about a lot more rosés this summer, or have some sort of rosé party and compare the remaining three or four bottles. In the meantime, I have this.

Region: Carneros, California, US

Composition: 100% Pinot Noir

Background: I don't know much about Robert Sinskey, other than that he was an advertising/photographer guy before he started making wine, because his dad (also named Robert) needed help at the winery. Dad Sinksey founded the winery in the late 1970's after retiring from medicine, but got called back into things because of his creation of an artificial lens for the human eye. Thus he hit up his son (who, it seems, was questioning his career choice) to come work for him, and here we are today. Their winemaker, Jeff Virnig, joined them as assistant winemaker in 1988 and became one of the youngest winemakers in the valley when he took over the reins in 1991.

I do know a little about rosé wines; mainly that there are three ways to make them:

1- You take black grapes, press them, and immediately run off and ferment the resulting juice (which is usually very pale). This makes a vin gris.
2- You take black grapes, press them, and let the juice sit for a few hours (maybe a day or two) with the skins before runoff and fermentation, so that the juice is colored by the skins, but not so much color as you would get for a red wine.
3- You use the saignée method, and dump all of your black grapes into a tank and press them. Once they sit a while, you bleed off some of the juice (hence the name) to make your rosé. And then you can make red wine with the leftovers if you want. This is like #1 above but you get both rosé and red wine out of the deal (and the red wine is usually pretty intense, since you have the same concentration of pips and skins and tannins, but with less juice).

You can also blend red wine and white wine to make rosé, but that is becoming more uncommon and is considered cheesy, especially in Europe, where it is banned outside of Champagne (rosé Champagne is made that way, and it is the exception). And contrary to what a lot of people think about pink wine, most (or at least a lot) of rosé is dry, not sweet and candylike.

Notes: It's slightly too pink to really be salmon, but it is a goregous color. Let's say rosy salmon in the glass, clear as water. It's got a fairly uncomplicated nose of toast and strawberries, with hints of grapefruit and some white flowers like jasmine. On the palate it has a lot more strawberry and cherry, and has a zingy finish that is all lemon and citrus. I thought the finish was slightly bitter and a little too acidic when it was freshly opened, but once it sat out for a little while and softened up, it was more enjoyable (the bitterness never completely went away, though). Or maybe it was the fact that I was off the phone and very relieved. Or the fact that I had a salad with it (mâche and pears with some goat cheese and simple vinaigrette).

Cost: $15

Overall: B

Comments

[Kieca]

That IS crazy! I had a rosé that was, what, three years old, earlier this year and it was all oxidized and gross and way over the hill. Go figure, those crazy rosés. Maybe I should hold on to the other bottle of the Sinskey and see what happens!

[jens rosenkrantz]

After a recent blind tasting we opened a 1994 Sinsky Vin Gris of Pinot Noir as we were all still thirsty. Many doubted that a 10 year-old Rose would still be alive. The wine was very much alive. It had fruit and elegance and a long finish. Amazing!

[Kieca]

It looks like K&L just got the Etude in stock, so look for it there, or check out Ferry Plaza, since Bacar had it by the glass last time I was there and FP has the same owners/same wines. I just picked up two bottles so I will report on it fully later on. I have some abbreviated tasting notes on it now, but nothing worth writing up yet.

Good luck with the hosting! It's a lot of work!

[sam]

thanks for taking part and the hint about the Etude. I absolutely love Etude but haven't tried their rose. Sorry I am taking to round this up. I can't believe how long it takes. I am the queen of prolific blogging and this hosting mularky almost has me beat! I'll be there soon, never fear...

sam