The 2011 Vin Gris of Pinot Noir is our first-ever "pink" wine made from estate Pinot Noir grapes. It's dry, crisp and full of ripe strawberry fruit -- perfect for spring picnics and summer dinners on the patio.
We hand-harvested Charles Vineyard Pinot Noir grapes early, when sugars were low. We then gently pressed the grapes and allowed them to sit on the skins for several hours before finishing the pressing process -- just long enough to extract a small amount of color. The resulting juice was then fermented in stainless steel tanks to preserve the acidity and bright fruit notes.
Vin Gris means gray wine in French -- essentially, a white wine made from red grapes. We did not use the saignee method (bleeding off juice from regular Pinot tanks) nor did we add any coloring concentrate to this wine. It's au naturel, just the way we like all our wines.