Para Maria Rose 2022
BACKGROUND
Maria “Lupe” Solorzano is shy around visitors and quick to smile. For anyone that sees her in action, it is clear that she leads by the example of her own work ethic. Solely in charge with a quiet, commanding presence, she heads the day-to-day operation at our vineyard, running perhaps the hardest working, most passionate vineyard crew in the world. On a daily basis she teaches La Cuadrilla new techniques to execute a constant barrage of experiments – often adapting on the fly – figuring out practical ways of farming ridiculously high-density vineyards by hand, or training canopies for ideal shading and wind-flow.
Label Art: The nickname for villagers from Santa Cruz de las Flores, Jalisco; Maria’s hometown, is “Tecolote” – or night owl. The name stems from the popular late night parties thrown in the town. Maria and La Cuadrilla also turn nocturnal for three months out of the year to harvest in the cold night air for maximum freshness. A resident female Great Horned Owl is the most prolific rodent-control beast on the vineyard.
VINTAGE
Cold and windy conditions in the spring led to a small crop with grapes bursting with flavor concentration. We were forecasting a late harvest until a Labor Day heat wave sped ripening up across the board. We opted to catch the Grenache prior to the heat wave, maintaining verve and energy. For late-ripening Mourvèdre, sugars remained low and continued to slowly accumulate through the heat wave and the week following. Like the Grenache, we picked on the early-side, even for rose, and the earlier ripening Grenache wound up as a slightly riper, fruitier blender to ensure deliciousness alongside the high-toned acidity and texture of the Mourvèdre.
The 2022 Para Maria Rosé finally brings our Mourvèdre Rosé vision full circle. When Ruben and I visited Domaine Tempier in Bandol back in June of 2019, the verticals of Mourvèdre Rosé blew our mind perhaps even more so than the reds. Immediately following this epiphany in France, we began blending the bottom of the Pliocene Mourvèdre block into our Estate Rosé. Finally, our Para Maria Mourvèdre vineyards here in Santa Ynez started producing!
SENSORY
Uber fresh orange blossom and hibiscus. Crunchy and bright with a zesty red fruit layer charging through the palate right up to the crisp finish. Bone dry and only 11% alcohol, like all great Mourvèdre Rosé, the tactile layers carry the day. As the wine settles into the glass and warms up, a misty ground-fog of airy texture creeps through the mouth allowing the tangy, spicy fruit profile to swirl, elevated within.