TN: 2022 Championship Bottle History Ablaze Rosé

@Saul_Mutchnick came up with another creative, fun, and tasty creation with this one. 100% Pinot Noir that sees extended maceration with the intention of making an ageworthy rosé. The varietal characteristics are quite pronounced on this on both the nose and the palate making it come across as a very light bodied PN rather than a typical rosé. Serious strawberries and perky acidity. We found this better with a light chill rather than fridge temperature. This could be a cool choice (pun intended) if you are eating a “red wine” food on a hot day. I’ve no idea how it will age and can see holding it a few years without worry, but I doubt many bottles will last that long.

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Certainly sounds interesting indeed. Any idea how long it’s in the skins? And what’s the ABV?

Cheers

Saul’s my winery mate and friend so I’m biased. But this is a super good wine, and I think it will age well. Is Pinot Noir really our Tibouren?? :fire: :fire:

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So you’re saying I should open it with my Flannery ribeye I’m cooking tonight? It’s like 100 degrees here.

12.7% ABV.

Here is what Saul posted about it.

The 2022 History Ablaze Pinot Noir Rosato started off as an act of pure selfishness. Many of the more serious and ageworthy rosés that we adore (Valentini, Pataille, L’Anglore, etc) have either become significantly more expensive or hard to find (or both, frankly), and so we figured why not make something to slake our thirst for that style. For us, that meant extending élevage on the cherry-red-hued wine to nearly 18 months in older barrels—about a year longer than most rosé—in order to draw out a savory component that would tame the Pinot’s fruit. The name (and its mix of languages) is a hat-tip to the idea that fashion changes quickly, and the Willamette Valley is a young and still relatively formless region with new traditions developing by the decade. We’re betting this will age nicely over the next five years or so, with the wine’s fruit giving way to a savory complexity that’s uncommon in the genre during the process.

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Thanks for all the kind words. From a business standpoint, making longer maceration, extended-elevage rosato from top-tier Pinot fruit was a bit of a risk, but I think it turned out about how I hoped—which makes it extra fun to see so many people enjoying it.

So this was fully destemmed and then spent two days on the skins before we pressed it.

I think you could do worse! I don’t always think you need tannins to cut through fat (they drink a lot of Beaujolais in Lyon, with a lot of rich, animal-driven cuisine) and History Ablaze has enough flavor to it that I think it could be fun. But also I don’t blame you if you popped something truly red.

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