Mourvèdre is a grape variety that seems incredibly well-adapted to life in the Applegate Valley. We grow multiple blocks of mourvèdre at Troon Vineyard and make both red blends and stand-alone mourvèdre varietal wines. However, the grapes for the 2024 Mourvèdre Rosé were grown and harvested with the intention of making this rosé wine. The grapes were picked at lower sugars and higher acidity than would have been the case for a red wine, and these vines were pruned and grown with rosé production in mind; we even use different mourvèdre clones — 04 for our rosé and 1069 for our red wines. 

When used to make rosé wine, mourvèdre exhibits a rich body and excellent texture, with the fruit complemented by intriguing herbal characteristics that give the wine real depth. In terms of winemaking, following harvest, the grapes were gently whole-cluster pressed to maintain aromatics and acidity. This also minimizes color extraction, leading to a rosé wine that is lighter in color - our focus is on wine flavor and balance, not color. After settling for 24 hours, the juice was racked to neutral barrels for fermentation. Both primary alcoholic and secondary malolactic fermentations were spontaneous (“native”). They occurred in the barrel in our cool cellar, not finishing up until the cellar begins to warm slightly in the spring. The wines remained on their primary lees until they were blended in a stainless-steel tank for bottling, at which point a small amount of SO2 was added before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.