2018 Rosé Caché

We, like much of the world, have always had a love affair with rosé.  At its best, it might evoke a clearer image than almost any other wine: sun-drenched landscape, dappled afternoon light, fresh ocean air.  The landscape and the wine are perhaps their most iconic in the Southern Rhone, where Grenache and its vinous cousins produce a pure, penetrating, and vibrant example.

Led by our color-fanatic-in-chief, Bob Betz, our earliest rosés were tinted by a somewhat liberal presence of Syrah’s deep color to the final blends.  Whether they were chillable reds or rosé is still a source of some debate.  When we decided to set our sights on a classic, Rhône-styled, pink rosé, we looked around the table at each other in silent agreement as to what it would take: the wine needed to stay hidden.  Deep in the cellar, it went, away from any temptation to add Syrah’s dark influence...we can’t say whether or not anyone was singled out. What emerged the following Spring was Rosé Caché, the “Hidden Rosé”, a wine that couldn’t be truer to its French inspiration.   

A crystalline salmon color, the 2018 Rose Cache has an array of aromas that leap from the glass. Flinty oyster shell, fresh ruby red grapefruit, peaches, green mango, and passionfruit; something new emerges at each swirl.  Round and rich but with great tension, the palate offers up melon, rainier cherry, and bright green mango flavors. The silky texture leads into a bracing and refreshing finish, full of savory white pepper, fruit peel, and saline minerality.  It’s ready for Summer.