Idlewild "Flora & Fauna" Rosé 2021
North Coast, CA
$29.00 (purchase it online
here)
Sam Bilbro followed his love of all things Italian when he made the leap to create Idlewild Wines, which focuses entirely on Italian varities grown in California. Sam grew up in a winemaking family, as his father stared Marietta Cellars.
Varietal: Dolcetto, Nebbiolo, Barbera fruit mostly coming from Fox Hill Vineyard and Lost Hills Ranch. Soil is well drained with concentrations of gravel and sandstone and schist. It is unconventional for Nebbiolo, Dolcetto, Barbera, and Grignolino to be co-fermented for a Rosé. Grapes ripen at very different times and are whole cluster pressed, fermented via native yeast, left on all the lees and solids, and aged in neutral oak,
Taste: Aromatically subtlety, with grapefruit pith, tarragon, pomelo, chervil, minerality, alpine wildflowers, salty ocean air, and slight notes of fresh pine needles. The three varieties can all be seen in the structure: Nebbiolo lends the crunchy mineral structure, Dolcetto lends a delicate softness, and Barbera lends screeching acidity.