Wine: Ojai: ROSÉ 2009

California

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Ojai Vineyard

The Ojai Vineyard, owned by Adam & Helen Tolmach, works closely with a dozen different vineyards on the Central Coast of California and produces wines from syrah, grenache, mourvedre, pinot noir, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and viognier. About 6000 cases are produced each year, divided between 15 bottlings, most of which are vineyard designated wines.

The key to producing special wine is in the care taken growing the grapes. There is an inverse relationship between quantity and quality when it comes to grapes, so rather than purchasing ours by the ton, we have long term agreements with our growers to buy the fruit by the acre. This lets us culture the vines and thin the crop to our strict specifications, yet allows the grower to receive a fair return.

In the winery we like to watch the development of the wine carefully, yet prefer to do as little as possible. Experience has shown us that the least amount of moving, pumping, fining and filtering is always best. The ultimate objective is to show off the distinctive character of a vineyard site.

We publish two newsletters a year (spring and fall), in which we offer our wines in advance of delivery at discounted prices to our mailing list customers. If you would like to be placed on our mailing list please sign up here or fax us your mailing address information. If you are interested in ordering wines that are currently available from The Ojai Vineyard please see our order form.

The Ojai Vineyard is not open for tours or tasting.

Maybe it doesn’t make sense to like rosé so much, but a good one is really good! In the old days we used to make it dark, soft, and full to the point that it could have been confused with a pinot noir. The wine was a meal in itself. But I have turned away from that style; I now prefer rosés light and zippy-so much easier to slurp with lunch on an unbearably hot day. Inspiration has come from rosés as diverse as the ultra expensive Château Simone to the completely unpredictable Francois Cotat, which when it’s great, there’s none better! This year we made ours from Roll Ranch syrah picked at a zippy 22 Brix sugar with a spot of added viognier and sauvignon blanc.

• Alberta