2022 “Máslás” Piquette Rosé Wine

Piquette is a Low-Alcohol, Bubbly, Natural Wine

Once upon a time, on a continent far, far away, the vineyard and winery workers of the world discovered that if they added water to pressed grape skins (aka pomace), the little sugar that remained would ferment, and the result was a low alcohol beverage, spritzy and thirst quenching. Perfect for a midday sipper while there was still work to be done, and a reliable and clean source of hydration. The French call it piquette, we call it Máslás, which more or less means “copy” in Hungarian. Get it? In 2022, we couldn’t bear to part with the super aromatic pinot noir clusters pressed for our Rosé for the Bay, or some of Chardonnay clusters we press for our Estate Bench Chardonnay bottling. So we tried blending them together for a Rosé version of Máslás. Nothing else was added, and the piquette wine is neither filtered nor fined. As natural as you can get.
Remember those little candies that Grandma used to keep in her purse? The ones with bits of lint and purse sand caught in the the twist-top wrapper that was printed to look like a strawberry? The smell of candied strawberry and an almost rhubarb sourness perfectly describes the opening of this Rosé Maslas. That evocative berry memory continues on the palate with a heaping of red currant flavor that makes this bone-dry, low-alcohol fizzy and crushable. It's not meant to be serious or profound, just a nice little treat on a hot summer day. Minus the lint and sugar.

Casey Graybehl, Winemaker