2019 Bordes, Rosé of Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast.
Bordes Wines is a small family-owned winery in Sonoma County, I recently discovered, you can see my review of their Pinot Noir on an earlier post and their Rosé, today’s wine of the day is a well rounded and smooth version with loads of strawberry, cherry and hints of ruby grapefruit, plus an interesting caramel (red) apple note. The wines are handcrafted in tiny amounts all made from free-run juice, which were harvested from Bordes’ sustainably farmed single vineyard estate in Sonoma County. The lovely hued Rosé of Pinot Noir was sourced from grapes exclusively harvested for Rosé and includes a mix of 667, 777 and Pommard clones. This Bordes Rosé is luxurious on the medium bodied palate and drinks very Pinot Noir like, more so than most Rosé, the effect is amplified by the wine’s vivid hue in the glass and the pleasing texture and mouth feel, while still refreshing and quaffable, it enjoys its chill and it is even better with food.

The 2019 Bordes Rosé of Pinot was whole cluster pressed with about 4 hours of skin contact, which was plenty for color extraction and instilling the flavor profile in this magenta pink wine. The fermentation was done in a small open top stainless tank in cool conditions before being racked down to a neutral French oak barrel and racked twice and cold stabilized with a gentle filtering for clarity. Bordes Wines, as noted, is new a small family-operated estate with its vineyard planted with a quality selection of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The wines are shepherded by a family friend, Bowdoin Pfeifer, who has been overseeing the process for the Bordes family as their youngest daughter Rachel studies wine and viticulture at Cal Poly and who will join the winemaking team at this year’s harvest and hopes to be a future star. While the Rosé is easy and simple fun, the Pinot is much more serious and complex, this is a winery to watch.
($29 Est.) 87 Points, grapelive

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