2018 Alfaro Family Vineyards, Rosé of Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains.
One of California’s great values and one of my favorite Summer wines, the Alfaro Rosé of Pinot Noir is a flavorful and exciting dry pink wine that delivers a stylish balance between juicy fruit density and mineral driven elegance, it is a Rosé that enjoys a full range of cuisine choices and is an obviously excellent porch pounder. The cool climate terroir of Corralitos allows for this riper style to excel as it still carries refreshing acidity and Alfaro has done a great job of balancing this one, and the vintage maybe the best we’ve seen in the region, making this 2018 one of the most exciting to date. The generous fruit includes vivid watermelon, strawberry and super intense sweet and sour cherries bursting out on the medium bodied palate along with hints of rosewater, candied citrus, lavender and wet stones as well as touches of loamy earth, spice and wild herbs.
Winemaker Richard Alfaro fermented his Rosé of Pinot Noir in stainless steel and aged it for 3.5 months in neutral (French) oak to give a subtle soft roundness while still having plenty of energy and pop, which this 2018 highlights. This new lineup of Alfaro Family Vineyards wine is exceptional and there are some fabulous offerings to try, I especially love Richard’s 2017 Chardonnays led by the estate grown Lindsay Paige Vineyard, his limited Heritage Clones Pinot Noir and the wonderfully expressive 2018 La Playita Vineyard Gruner Veltliner, one of California’s best examples of this Austrian grape. It’s hard to imagine a more solid set of wines for the money than Alfaro’s current bottlings, these are insanely good values for the complexity and quality in the glass and this salmon/pink hued Rosé of Pinot Noir with its steely core and rich fruit is impossible to resist, drink it up.
($18.50 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive