2018 Full Pull & Friends Frog Kisser

Full Pull

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull Exclusive Rose, 4/18/2019

  (Frog Kisser Rose) Hello friends. The progress of rosé around these parts has been staggering. And I mean that on both the producer and consumer sides of the coin, which have grown rapidly, and in tandem, over my decade running Full Pull. On the producer side, the rosés have gone from saignée cash-flow afterthoughts to purpose-built, bone-dry killers. On the consumer side, the Seattle market generally, and our list members particularly, cannot seem to get enough pink wine into our homes and onto our dinner (and breakfast) tables. The enthusiasm for good Washington rosé among our list members has never been higher, and that’s why I think today’s offer is going to tickle so many of you. Because today we have Full Pull’s first-ever own-label, exclusive-to-our-list-members rosé: I guess I ought to explain the name first, although old-head list members will understand it right away. We’ve said many times over the years that our unofficial motto at Full Pull is: we kiss frogs. The unsaid portion is: so you don’t have to. That truly is the business model in a nutshell. We taste hundreds of wines each month (kissing the frogs) and only present to our dear list members the most special bottles among them. I’m going to excerpt an email exchange to explain how this project came to be. PZ: Hi [EXCELLENT WINEMAKER]. We’re celebrating 10 years of FP this year, so if you have any interesting lots that are smaller quantity, let me know. EXCELLENT WINEMAKER: Would you be interested in a 2018 single vineyard rose? I thought that might work well.  It’s a blend of 44% Syrah, 43% Grenache and 13% Cinsault. PZ: Is it [REDACTED VINEYARD]? Can you say? EM: Yes, it’s 100% [REDACTED VINEYARD], but we’d prefer you didn’t say that. PZ: Wow. Please ship a sample ASAP. Things moved quickly from there. The sample was lights-out, priced well, and we committed to an amount that I *hope* will get us through the summer. We embarked on a rapid label-design project (here’s what the finished bottle looks like). And just like that, the wine is here. So, as should be apparent from the exchange above, I unfortunately cannot reveal the name of the vineyard where this juice comes from. I can say that it’s a Walla Walla Valley site, and it’s on the Washington side of the AVA. It’s also the estate vineyard for the winemaker noted above, which means he/she is coddling this wine from grape to bottle. The reason why they ended up with an excess of pink juice would too clearly reveal the winery involved, so I’ll just have to ask you to trust me when I tell you that this was purpose-built rosé whose purpose evaporated, leaving an opportunity for us to swoop in. When I say purpose-built, I mean these grapes were picked expressly for rosé, several weeks before the red-wine harvest and early enough to retain outstanding natural acidity and refreshingly low alcohol (12.8%). The grapes were then direct-pressed, using a rapid and gentle press cycle for minimal color and phenolics. This pours pale pink with salmon glints, and begins with an exuberant, summery nose. The fruit profile combines red berries and citrus; the stony minerals and greenery reflective of this wine’s solid portion of Grenache, which contributes its signature dusty sagebrush and wildflower aromas. What you notice immediately in the mouth is rippin’ natural acidity. This is crisp, nervy, bone-dry rosé, with wonderful tension and verve. It’s so insistently refreshing, it had me immediately in mind of a hot midsummer deck and a full icy glass of this. For sure it would work as a patio cocktail; beyond that, food pairings abound. Today I want it with a mess of butter-lemon-thyme-roasted chicken thighs next to a salad of early lettuces splashed with a mouth-puckering blood-orange vinaigrette.