2018 Vin Gris
Birichino does not endeavor to deceive wantonly. One can’t deny, however, that wines often reveal traits which seem strikingly at odds with their visual or aromatic plumage. Such is the case with the 2018 Vin Gris. Coral or pale salmon perhaps best describes the tint, suggesting a gentle, delicate, wispy rosé in keeping with the gentle, delicate sensibilities of the house’s founders. The initial scent, as well, might lead one down the primrose path of frivolous expectations, effusively perfumed as it is of flowers and Asian fruits. 2018 has proven, however, a rich, dynamic, but never fatiguing vintage, confounding the notion of a balanced, gulpable rosé as necessarily light and ethereal. This added density likely derives from a larger than normal percentage of fruit from old vines. Mourvèdre from the sandscape of Contra Costa County, the entirety of our allotment of cinsault from Bechthold Vineyard [the oldest such vineyard on Earth, planted in Lodi in 1886] and George Besson’s old vine grenache, together comprise 30% of the blend, an extravagance rendering allusions to Bandol not entirely ridiculous. Fermentation proceeds naturally in a single tank, each successive component being added to the accumulating whole until the final blend arrives as if by magic at its pre-imagined constitution.

Source: Winery web site

Edit this Article