2022 Holman Ranch Estate, Rosé of Pinot Noir “Susan’s Saignée” Carmel Valley AVA, Monterey County.
The soon to be released 2022 Rosé of Pinot Noir from Carmel Valley’s Holman Ranch Estate Vineyard and Winery, made by the father and son team of Greg and Chris Vita, is as it was last year a fine effort and refreshingly delicious with a burst of citrus, peach and sour cherry fruit, mineral, saline, wet stone, rosewater and tangy herb notes. More in a Provence crisply dry style than expected, much to my pleasure and with no noticeable wood or Malo influences, making it vibrant and delightful on the expressive, but leaner and more taut on the palate, this is going to be fabulous as an early Spring treat and will be flexible with food options, as well as being excellent on its own. Just a touch of jolly rancher watermelon comes through as it warms in the glass, which will honestly not take away from the pleasure here and there will be no patience required, this 2022 is ready to go already, the only waiting needed with this Rosé will be on the winery release date. The historic Holman Ranch property was originally founded back in 1928, though the grape vines, mainly a selection of Pinot Noir parcels, that are named after family members, came much later, with wine production beginning in earnest with the 2011 and 2012 vintages, with the 2018 being a breakthrough for this lesser known winery.
As mentioned, in recent years Holman Ranch has turned on the charm and wines are gaining in personality and distinction, especially the three main Pinot Noirs here and I highly recommend grabbing their 2018 versions, all of which are incredible, the best yet from this property. I had a chance to sample some upcoming wines, including this fun and tasty Rosé, as well as a preview of their 2019 Pinots, one that had a high percentage of 828 clone, which I really dug and am convinced will be almost the equal of the 2018 collection. The Holman Rosé of Pinot Noir, known as the Susan’s Saignée, is crafted using some ripe juice bled off their Pinot Noir sourced from their picturesque Carmel Valley vines using mainly clones 777 and Pommard. It retains good acidity, popping up with some ruby grapefruit, and has good tension between the zesty nature and lush fruit elements. Greg and Chris Vita, who also consult for a number of Carmel Valley producers, use 100% estate grapes here at Holman Ranch and employ traditional and sustainable methods in the vineyard and in the cellar, with this wine seeing 100% stainless steel, a cool temperature fermentation and a short aging period which lasted just three months before bottling this Rosé. If you’ve not discovered Holman Ranch yet, now is a great time to do so! Not seen much in the wild, these wines are almost exclusively direct to the consumer offerings, there is also a small amounts of Brut sparkling wines and Chardonnay produced here, even tough it is the small lot Pinot Noir(s) that is the main focus.
($35 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive