2018 Jaimee Motley Wines, Rosé of Mondeuse, Rorick Heritage Vineyard, Calaveras County -photo grapelive

2018 Jaimee Motley Wines, Rosé of Mondeuse, Rorick Heritage Vineyard, Calaveras County.
Jaimee Motley, who’s travels lead her to the Loire and Savoie, where she fell in love with Chenin Blanc and Mondeuse which have become her signature wines. Motley, an assistant winemaker at Pax Wines, was born and raised in Annapolis, Maryland before moving to SF to peruse artistic talents, though after working in some of the City’s more iconic restaurants she caught the wine bug, which led to her exploration of European wine regions. That in turn inspired her to be a winemaker and as the say the rest is history, as she has become an underground sensation with her wines selling out within hours of release. Jaimee’s Mondeuse fetish not only is presented as a traditional red wine, but also in her unique Rosé of Mondeuse, maybe the only single varietal Rosé of Mondeuse available in the states.

This rarity is from the Rorick Heritage Vineyard in the Sierra Foothills region of Calaveras County, grown on limestone with top layer of schist, with long warm days and cool nights the Mondeuse has found a happy home here developing ripe flavors, though picked early to retain fresh acidity. Motley chose a unique route with her Rosé, going somewhat old school with traditional maceration and native yeast fermentation for primary before aging and malos in neutral oak cask with the wine resting on the lees for about 5 months, making for a dry and textured pink a natural wine profile with notes of hibiscus tea, guava, shaved cinnamon and peach punch as well as more familiar pink citrus, strawberry and watermelon. With air this unique Rosé of Mondeuse gets more spicy and savory in nature, in my opinion it is best to keep it chilled throughout to let the zip and crispness shine and maybe best enjoyed with robust food pairings. This is rare Rosé is fun and a bit funky, non traditional, but Motley’s red Mondeuse is her signature juice and well worth the hard search to find it.
($24 Est.) 88 Points, grapelive

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