Region: Carneros, California, US
Composition: 100% Pinot Noir
Background: Yet another notch in my Pinot Noir/Rosé belt. Of the rosés I have had in recent months, this is my favorite, my weirdness about Etude notwithstanding. I am continuing to try others, partly because this one is pricey for a rosé and hard to get, and partly because, well, what is life without experimentation? I still love it. I can tell I love it because I tend to hoard it and when occasions come up, I debate if they are worth the Etude Rosé. I can't hoard it too long, though, because then I would have old rosé and that could be ugly.
Tony Soter made this wine before, but stopped production about a decade ago. The masses have been clamoring for its return (or he thought it was worth revisiting) and he's making it again- this 2004 version was a trial run of 600 cases. I hear he sold them all, and quickly. Bacar (watch out, silly flash intensive site with a possibly outdated menu/wine list) has this on their glass menu right now, for anyone wanting to try it without serious commitment. It looks like K&L also has a few bottles left.
Etude has been around since about 1982, and is Soter's original effort to make wine, hence the name "Etude" (French for "study"). The focus is Pinot Noir, but Soter also makes a couple of other wines under the label. In 2001, Beringer Blass bought Etude, which Soter says allowed him to expand and improve the winery without going into debt/taking on partners. This move probably also allowed Soter to focus more on his other label, Soter Vineyards, located up in Oregon, and explore his interest in sparkling wine as well as continue his work with Pinot Noir.
Notes: This may possibly be the girliest wine in existence, and I mean that in a good way. It's a very feminine wine... elegant and refined and soft. In the glass it is a clear salmon pink with some orangey glints, and the nose is goregous... all honeysuckle and strawberries with honey and rose. In the mouth it is full of berry fruit, mostly strawberry and cherry, and has a soft finish full of more berry and rose. There is some acid in the finish, but not a ton, and it is silky and pillowy and the flavor lingers for a long time. I think part of the reason I like it so much is that everything is so well-integrated and balanced that it is a pleasure to drink. If you could drink a glass of silk and soft velvet, this would be it. It has a ton of fruit in it, but is not sweet or cloying.
Cost: $18
Overall: A
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