2023 Chesebro Wines, Grenache Rosé, Cedar Lane Vineyard, Arroyo Seco AVA, Monterey County.
The latest release of Chesebro’s Provençal style, 100% Grenache Rosé, which sports a more delicate pale light pink/salmon hue in the glass and is extra bone dry and zippy on the racy palate makes for a very refreshing and delightful Summer wine. The Chesebro’s have done a beautiful label and package for these 2023s, and they really highlight the quality in the bottle, especially their Sauvignon Blanc, Albariño, Pinot Noir and this Rosé, as well as showcasing the Arroyo Seco appellation, just to the south of the Santa Lucia Highlands along that bench that sees the cool Pacific breezes and a long growing season. The 2023 Cedar Lane Grenache Rosé shows off crisp, stony and zesty ruby grapefruit, strawberry, sour cherry and juicy watermelon fruits, which burst from the glass with expressive energy, but without any weight or sweetness, adding s steely/saline mineral element, rosewater, a touch of fennel and a fine sage herbal note. This bright and exciting edition is one of my favorites to date from Chesebro and I highly recommend stocking up on this limited production single vineyard Grenache Rosé for the warm months ahead, it is savvy quaffer that can be wildly enjoyable on its own, but very confident with meals as well, especially with Monterey’s wonderful abundance of sea food choices.
Father and son team of Mark and Will Chesebro have turned up the excitement at Chesebro Wines in recent years and their latest set of wines, as mentioned, are authentic and rewarding wines that offer a ton of value, in particular their Rhône varietal red and white wines, including their Carmel Valley estate GSM, Roussanne, and Vermintino, one of my favorites, along with the noted Cedar Lane Sauvignon Blanc, Albariño and Pinot Noir. Mark Chesebro, a main stay in Monterey’s grower class, has a long history winemaking here, he has come a long way since he took a crush job at Bernardus Winery under Don Blackburn in the fall of 1994. Chesebro really helped bring national attention to Carmel Valley’s Bernardus Winery during the late 1990s and early 2000s, until the left in the spring of 2005 to focus on grape growing and his own label. Chesebro has also instrumental in raising the profile and quality of the Arroyo Seco region, with his Cedar Lane Vineyard being one of the Crown Jewels of the region, which is set on decomposed granite, sandy loam, rocky and alluvial soils. This terroir influence is very much a feature in the Chesebro wines, with its semi cool marine Mediterranean like climate retaining a nice fresh acidity and promotes balance and lower natural alcohol, while allowing good ripe flavor development. For this wine, Mark and Will, employed an early pick on the Grenache grapes, a short skin maceration and exclusive stainless steel fermentation and a short aging, with gives this wine its clarity sand transparency.
($23 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive