Home > KFV Wines > 2007 Syrah Rosé: Our first pink wine!

(Note: we will make a 2008 Rosé; details coming in November!)

We enjoyed a lot of rosé over the warm summer last year so we decided to make some of our own. We decided to produce a purpose-made rosé, as opposed to one made by bleeding off juice during the normal red winemaking process. John talked with several winemaking friends to better understand the process, including Joan Griffin of Griffin's Lair Vineyard, Michael Muscardini of Muscardini Cellars, and Al Perry at Robert Biale, and off we went!

On September 7, from the bottom rows of our middle block, we picked 275 pounds of syrah at 22.2 brix. We crushed the grapes and then left them sitting on the skins (to pick up color) for nearly 3 hours before pressing.

John found yet another useful application for the sheep's watering trough: cooling tub! Our goal was to initiate a very long, s-l-o-w fermentation period, so we placed the carboys of just-pressed rosé into the trough filled with cold water and ice blocks:

Rub-a-dub-dub, three rosés in a tub

The rosé went dry over just about 30 days, after which John racked it and it aged over the winter in the glass carboys. In February, the rosé was racked, fined, filtered, and finally, bottled. In all, we produced just under 6 cases of this sparkling-clear, beautiful pink wine.

Somehow, we've already gone through two cases! It made its debut straight from a one-gallon fermentation jug to the decanter a few days prior to bottling, as we served it for lunch to Ray (below) and Judy Schuster, Jim and Sue Beisman. It was a beautiful way to forget about the rain and fantasize about warm summer days ahead.

A true coming-out party took place on an unseasonably warm night in mid-May. We gathered some friends for a pink party and proceeded to taste our rosé alongside a Griffins Lair (made and brought by Joan and Jim Griffin), a Biale (made and brought by Al Perry), a Muscardini, a Sofia, a Menage a Trois (really!), a McDowell, and that's all I can remember. But they were all really good and we're looking forward to consuming all 6 cases before we make the 2008 vintage!

Labor Day 2008 Update: only about 6 bottles left!