Tuesday 6th February 2007
As a teenager I enjoyed reading Antonia Ridge’s ‘For Love of a Rose’, a story about the creation of the famous Peace rose. Today we had our own variation on this theme – ‘For love of a Rosé – a wine for peace!
Over the last two years, many of our customers have asked us to produce a rosé, so last September, when Kathy, Sjaak and I visited France on a study tour, we tasted as many highly regarded dry rosés as possible. Kathy and I also spent some time in Provence and along the Rhone, determined to find the style of rosé we wanted to make - a serious, dry style, fruity yet without the alcoholic character found in rosés which are made by bleeding juice off very ripe grapes to concentrate a red wine. We soon realized that the best rosés are made in the vineyard! We therefore pieced together our ideal flavour profile of selected Jordan shiraz, merlot and cabernet sauvignon vineyards, with a possibility of some full flavoured cabernet franc to add some juicy red-berry spiciness.
Neil Young could easily have meant to add an accent on the e when he wrote the song ‘Love is a rose!’ “Love is a rose (é) but you better not pick it – it only grows when it’s on the vine. A handful of thorns and you’ll know you’ve missed it …”
Determined not to miss our maiden rosé, Elaine (Jordan bookkeeper) and Luzanne (Jordan Tasting Room Manager) joined Kathy at the press.
The first vineyard to be harvested today was a French-clone merlot, and soon the cellar was filled with the aroma of red berries and spicy green olives. We had previously crop-thinned the vineyards earmarked for rosé and also green-harvested the blocks in early January to ensure even ripening and extra concentration.
Choosing the ideal length of skin contact time is always a bit stressful, as one loses colour during the fermentation process – two hours later, we decided to press.
As a teenager I enjoyed reading Antonia Ridge’s ‘For Love of a Rose’, a story about the creation of the famous Peace rose. Today we had our own variation on this theme – ‘For love of a Rosé – a wine for peace!
Over the last two years, many of our customers have asked us to produce a rosé, so last September, when Kathy, Sjaak and I visited France on a study tour, we tasted as many highly regarded dry rosés as possible. Kathy and I also spent some time in Provence and along the Rhone, determined to find the style of rosé we wanted to make - a serious, dry style, fruity yet without the alcoholic character found in rosés which are made by bleeding juice off very ripe grapes to concentrate a red wine. We soon realized that the best rosés are made in the vineyard! We therefore pieced together our ideal flavour profile of selected Jordan shiraz, merlot and cabernet sauvignon vineyards, with a possibility of some full flavoured cabernet franc to add some juicy red-berry spiciness.
Neil Young could easily have meant to add an accent on the e when he wrote the song ‘Love is a rose!’ “Love is a rose (é) but you better not pick it – it only grows when it’s on the vine. A handful of thorns and you’ll know you’ve missed it …”
Determined not to miss our maiden rosé, Elaine (Jordan bookkeeper) and Luzanne (Jordan Tasting Room Manager) joined Kathy at the press.
The first vineyard to be harvested today was a French-clone merlot, and soon the cellar was filled with the aroma of red berries and spicy green olives. We had previously crop-thinned the vineyards earmarked for rosé and also green-harvested the blocks in early January to ensure even ripening and extra concentration.
Choosing the ideal length of skin contact time is always a bit stressful, as one loses colour during the fermentation process – two hours later, we decided to press.
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