11 May Please The Palate Wine of the Week: Alma de Cattleya 2021 Rosé of Pinot Noir, Sonoma County

Spring is here! The sun is shining, flowers are in bloom, and nothing puts a smile on my face more than a pretty pink wine. Of course, we drink rosé year round, but rosé season is officially here. So this week I opened up the 2021 Alma de Cattleya Rosé of Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, the Please The Palate wine of the week. Rosé wines can be made from any red-skinned grape and Rosé of Pinot Noir is a particular favorite of mine as they are delicate and crisp. The Alma de Cattleya 2021 Rosé of Pinot Noir is no exception. Alma de Cattleya owner and winemaker Bibiana González Rave focuses on making wines that express the purity of the fruit and her Rosé is a beautiful expression of the Pinot Noir grape. The fruit comes from the Sonoma Coast where the grapes are handpicked at night for freshness. The Alma de Cattleya Rosé is made with a combination of styles. Some of the juice is saignée, in which a portion of the juice is drained off from a tank of crushed red grapes. Other Pinot Noir clusters are pressed. Together the juice is transferred to neutral barrels or stainless steel tanks to start a cold fermentation. Following fermentation, the wine was aged in neutral French oak barrels for six months before bottling. The resulting wine is the color of ballet slippers. The nose has aromas of wild strawberries, wild raspberries, white flowers, white peaches, orange zest, and wet rocks. On the palate, the wine is crisp with both tart and savory flavors. The wine has lots of texture and has a long finish. The Alma de Cattleya 2021 Rosé of Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, which retails for $22, screams “spring is here!” Enjoy it as an aperitif or with appetizers or shellfish.