Le Rosé
Le Rosé is a rosé wine from just one plot, called La Casilla, using local varieties red Tinto Fino and white Albillo. The grapes are from the old vineyard of a ‘grand cru’, 1,000 metres high, where a ground surface of 30-50 cm of sand and a direct base of calcareous rock predominate. The pressing, a process that has now been improved in the new winery, is the same as the one used for Champagne, just only to collect the flower must with which Le Rosé is made. The resulting wine is fermented and aged in new 600-litre barrels.
The first year of vintage for Le Rosé was 2013 and since then it began this rosé wine has been made directly to compete with the world elite of rosés.
Sourdais noticed that Soria was an ideal location, given the tradition of Ribera de Duero and, in general, of the Spanish viticulture of making pale wine, to consciously adhere to the tradition and update the subsequent legacy with Le Rosé, the fully Spanish rosé wine.
Vineyard:
Grape variety: 50% Tinto fino and 50% Albillo.
Age: planted in 1905.
Soils: Sands over calcareous.
Plot: David Hernando ecological cultivation.
Designation: DO Ribera del Duero.
Harvest: Manual.
Le Rosé 2017
Harvest: In 10 kilo boxes, 16 September.
Pressing: Mixing whole red and white grape bunches directly.
Sedimentation: at 12ºC.
Fermenting: New 600-litre French oak barrels.
Bottling: 8 August 2018.
Production in 2017: 2.200 75cl bottles and 30 magnums.
Le Rosé 2017
2017 has been an early vintage although the almond trees in San Esteban de Gormaz had not flourished until 13 March, a relatively late date if we compare it with previous years.
Spring was cold and dry. We had a severe frost on 28 April with temperatures of -1oC which destroyed all the sprouts although luckily many buds had not sprung and were saved. Nevertheless, 30% of the harvest was lost. Flowering was very fast, it happened between 5 and 12 June. Taking this fact into account, we predicted a homogenous ripening and a quick harvest season we proved right.
At the end of June, there was an unusual heat wave, reaching temperatures of 38oC for 15 days, which made grapes acquire a thick peel and little pulp. In July high temperatures turned normal and minimum temperatures were rather cold, and we got 70 liters of rain on 7, 8 and 9 July (we were really looking forward to it).
We had an early ripening. It started 15 days earlier on 26 July. August had hot days and cool nights. We had 50 liters of rain on 27, 28 and 29. This situation kept the plants fresh despite the drought we had throughout the year. We had early “quitameriendas” (Colchicum montanum); we had them 3 weeks earlier than usual ( 8 September), foretelling the end of summer.
Le Rosé 2017 appears with a very pale pink colour, almost transparent. It develops hints of white peach, roses and fine wood aromas. In mouth it is creamy and soft in attack, continues soft and delicate in half mouth and finishes in a calcareous acidity which is originally common from the plot of Le Rosé.
Vineyard:
Grape variety: Tinto Fino and Albillo.
Age: planted in 1905.
Soil: sand over limestone.
Plot: David Hernando ecological cultivation.
Altitude: 950 m.
Designation: DO Ribera del Duero.
Harvest: manual.
Le Rosé 2016
Harvest: from the 16 to 19 September in 10 kg boxes.
Pressing: direct, with whole grape bunches.
Sedimentation: at 8 °C.
Fermenting and ageing: in new 600-litre barrels.
Bottling: 3 May 2017.
Production in 2016: 2,116 bottles and 51 magnums.
Le Rosé 2016
The year of vintage began with a significant event: the roses budded in January, indicating that the beginning of the year had been warmer than usual in these Sorian latitudes. The intense cold began in March and we had the first snows around the middle of April.
The vines sprouted on 29 April, which has been the average over the last 50 years in Soria. In mid-May we had a cold spell that had a marked impact on flowering, which arrived late, on the 20 June.
The summer was dry, like the year of vintage as a whole. However, in the middle of summer, on 14 July, the minimum temperature dropped to 5 ºC and to 3ºC on 12 August. These cold spells enabled the plants to recover from the hours of sunlight.
In September we had some very hot weather with 37ºC on the 7th followed by rain from the 14th to the 16th with 12 liters per square meter, refreshing the plants which enjoyed a second youth. This aspect adds personality to the year of vintage and is locked into the wine’s memory.
Le Rosé is a direct, open wine from a recent year of vintage that does not hide its attributes
and shows its aromas conspicuously. The quantity and generosity of 2016 is discernible on the palate while transmitting precise flavors through a relaxed beginning and notable balance and fluidity. The great year of vintage and the “grand cru” join forces to provide a stunning result.
Viñedo:
Varieties: Tinto Fino, Albillo from various villages in Soria.
Old vines Altitude: 900 m.
Yields: 2,500 kilos/ha.
Grape harvest from the 16th to 19 September in boxes. Direct pressing with whole bunches of grapes. Disgorging for 12 hours at 8°C fermenting and ageing in new 600-litre barrels. Bottling: 4 February 2016. Production in 2015: 1.250 bottles and 125 magnums.
Soil: sandy and calcareous.
Year of vintage 2015
2015 is by definition, in both France and Spain, a seductive, ‘charmeur’ year, in which the calcareous terroir was tamed by the climate. The result is a wine perhaps not as powerful as the 2014 but rather a wine that is ‘done’, as we say in our trade, a wine which is already at its best.
Production: 1,250 bottles.
Le Rosé 2015. Parker 92.
Le Rosé 2015. Guía Peñín 92.
-
- Le Rosé 2013
-
- Le Rosé 2014
-
- Le Rosé 2015
-
- Le Rosé 2016
