The 2000 Novy Cellars Rosé possesses a pedigree that few wines, of any color, can match. The fruit for this wine comes from the Van der Kamp Vineyard on Sonoma Mountain, the Page-Nord Vineyard in Napa Valley, the Garys’ Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands, and the Clos Pepe Vineyard in Santa Barbara County.

Unlike the 1999 Rosé (which was produced from all Syrah), the 2000 Novy Rosé is a blend of both Pinot Noir and Syrah. In both cases, we bled off a percentage of juice from the just crushed grapes to produce our Rosé. This process is called “saignée” in France. We are very particular about the way we bleed off the juice—using only gravity to drain the juice from the fermentation vessels directly to a combination of stainless steel drums and barrels (we used 2 older French barrels in 2000 along with 5 stainless steel drums). We used barrels in addition to the stainless steel to give the wine a rounder, slightly richer mid-palate. The stainless steel is used to accentuate the wine’s crisp fruit character. Once pressed we added yeast, specifically a yeast called 71B which enhances the wine’s fruity aromatics. Fermentation took place over a few months, completing in early December, at which point we innoculated for malolactic fermentation. The wine quickly completed this process and was bottled in early January.

The 2000 Novy Rosé is a serious wine which just happens to be pink. Tropical fruit flavors come through on the nose and carry through into a round mid-palate. There are also hints of smoke and earth. On the finish the wine is tight, crisp, and very refreshing thus making it a perfect complement for a variety of foods. This is a great wine for drinking over the upcoming spring and summer months.