Croteaux Rosé

We approach Rosé differently. We grow and harvest our fruit specifically for the purpose of making rosé wines, harvesting early in the season, (typically late September), and picking in cool temperatures. Our goal is to find the right balance of sugar and acidity in the grapes then harvest and get the fruit immediately to the press. Some of our wines are "whole cluster pressed" while others are 'de-stemmed and pressed". The juice is immediately separated from the skins, giving the juice a pale pink, salmon color. I the case of our "Jolie" Cabernet Franc Rosés, a portion of the skins are left to soak with the juice for approximately 20-24 hours. Most of our wines are produced in stainless steel, creating crisp fresh flavors. More recently, we have begun experimenting and producing Barrel-Aged Rosés in which neutral, older oak barrels are used. These wines are made in small batches each vintage and are released much later than our stainless steel fermented Rosés.