2022 Intent Wines, Rosé of Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast.
The clear, crisp and elegant Intent Rosé makes for a lovely Summer wine and great for sunsets and beach enjoyment, as well as having enough complexity and substance to partner up a meal with bright strawberry, ruby grapefruit, sour cherry and watermelon fruits, along with wet stones, mild herbs saline, rosewater and zesty spices. Tasted twice with comparable results, meaning I was doubly rewarded here with winemaker Patrick Callagy’s latest dry pink wine, which was sourced from cool climate small vineyards that perfectly captured acidity, mineral tones and low sugars, but still had enough ripeness to please the palate and make a complete Rosé for the warm Summer ahead. This dry and pithy Rosé saw a gentle whole cluster pressing and quick skin soak, with a cool stainless steel fermentation, after which the Intent 100% Pinot Noir Rosé saw just 3 months in Neutral French Oak barrels. Everything was carefully done and very precise to capture vitality, energy and freshness, which was successful, as witnessed with the quality in the bottle, with only 140 cases produced, it should go fast.
This new label, started with the 2017 vintage, is led by Patrick Callagy, a California Culinary Academy trained chef and turned winemaker, who launched his personal project Intent Wines with a solid set of initial offerings including a Pinot Gris, a Syrah and this lovely Home Block Pommard Clone Pinot Noir, adding a new Pinot, Sangiovese and this Rosé to his small lot collection recently. Patrick, as noted here in prior reviews, met winemaker Eric Sussman in 2002, post graduation, when Sussman started his now famous Radio Coteau winery, helping out with that harvest. Completely hooked on the methods there and after a few years of extremely long hours, Callagy’s persistence paid off when he became Radio Coteau’s first employee, gaining loads of wine growing and winemaking experience, which has paid off in his Intent Wines adventure. Patrick says his intent is to work with small family farms who grow our grapes by being present in their vineyards, which are mostly fully organic, biodynamic and holistically farmed. Continuing on he adds that, for each of his wines to be a reflection of the vineyard or terroir he employs a non-interventionist approach to his winemaking and crafting each wine with our best intent, hence the name. So far so good with Callagy’s efforts and I highly recommend his pure and authentic wines, especially the Pinot Gris, the Golden Fleece Pinot Noir and this Rosé, all of which are delicious.
($30 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive