After thirty harvests, we're old hands at coaxing the best from Alsatian varieties but this is only our third rosé made from Mediterranean varieties. We're still learning the basics. What grape varieties? What blend percentages? How much skin contact? In three out of three vintages, Debbie Pallini's Grenache grapes have provided the rock solid foundation. Her vines are ancient and head-trained on stony soil, a classic combination for good Mediterranean reds. We're convinced that these grapes also produce an exquisite rosé. In 2003 we shortened the skin contact time on the Grenache (66% of the blend) to make the wine lighter than the 2002; now in 2004 we've edged back towards the 2002 style, with a bit more Grenache skin contact. Debbie's sister Tia grows Carignan on ancient vines, another varietal used in the production of Spanish Rosado and Provencal Rosé. A 16% addition enhances Grenache's overt strawberry flavors with seductive suggestions of guava and passion-fruit. The third grape in our blend is Syrah (18%). It adds crisp black-cherry flavors but since Syrah grapes have very tannic skins we carefully monitored skin contact time and press regime.

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In 2004 we couldn't resist another small change; we splashed in 2% Mourvèdre. We used two yeasts from the Rhône, then aged this dry, devilishly pretty wine in seasoned oak barrels to clarify in winter and bottled in the spring for your summer table. Gold Medal winner.

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