04 Aug Please The Palate Wine of the Week: Inman Family 2020 Endless Crush® Rosé, OGV Estate, Russian River Valley

The first time I tasted this wine, I had a crush. I guess you can say that I have an “endless crush” on this rosé. That is why after enjoying the 2020 Inman Family Endless Crush Rosé this week, it is the Please The Palate wine of the week. The making of Inman Family Endless Crush Rosé is itself a love story. September 1, 2004 was the 20th wedding anniversary of winemaker Kathleen Inman and her husband Simon. It was the same day she was harvesting the Pinot Noir from her Olivet Grange estate vineyard. To mark the occasion, she make a special rosé and called it “Endless Crush”. The Pinot Noir for the rosé is picked, destemmed, and then sits for a couple hours. The amount of time the grapes sit on the skins is very particular in order to achieve the delicate pale pink color. Kathleen shared with me that the time the grapes spend on the skins is the same amount of time for her to drive to her local taco stand and eat two tacos. A burrito, on the other hand, is not an option as the time it takes to eat a burrito results in too much tannin in the wine. After the grapes are pressed, they are cold fermented in stainless steel and the gros lees are stirred. The result is a beautiful pale, delicate pink wine with a very pretty aromatic nose of ripe watermelon, strawberries, and citrus. On the palate, the wine has a textured mouthfeel with lovely minerality and fresh, zippy acidity. Such a beautiful wine, it is enjoyed on its own on a warm summer day. But, it has the texture and acidity to enjoy with food, such as cheese, chicken, fish, or pasta. Inman Family Endless Crush Rosé ($38) was born out of love and I definitely have an endless crush on this wine.