Post & Vine Rosé of Carignane Contra Costa 2021

This is some seriously good rosé, y’all. From Rutherford’s illustrious Quintessa winery, Rebekah Wineburg is a top winemaker crafting some head-turning juice from ridiculously old-vine sites here in California. This rosé carignane is a house favorite, and is sure to become yours too!

Post & Vine is a 10-year-old passion project with Rebekah Wineburg at the helm, sourcing carignane from a single vineyard planted in 1890 (!) for this wine. Rebekah is a bit of a phenom – with stints at Staglin, Ornellaia, Rudd Estate, Bucella, and more, working with revered winemakers like Celia Welch, Michel Rolland, Charles Thomas...all-in-all quite the resume. She also does a bit of high-flying trapeze on the side… you know, just for fun. So yeah, she knows a bit about balance, tension, and elegance. She took over as head winemaker at Quintessa in 2015, earning them some of the top scores ever for the estate, including their first 100-point effort with their 2019 vintage.

For her personal project, she focuses on sustainably farmed, old-vine plots throughout the North Bay – from Mendocino to here, at Contra Costa’s Sandy Lane vineyard. She describes grape sampling here as a literal day at the beach – the soil isn’t just sandy – it is sand. Dry, porous, fine, Riviera-worthy sand. Such conditions allow this 130-year-old carignane to be own-rooted, and dry-farmed, without sacrificing the yield or vine health.

The grapes are hand-harvested and whole-cluster pressed before aging in neutral oak barrels for four months. The wine shines a brilliant salmon hue, with explosively bright and refreshing aromatics of summer watermelon, salty ocean breeze, and strawberry tarts. In the mouth, decadently ripe raspberries and blood orange fruits are revealed, with fresh herb notes of tarragon and thyme. A perfect balance of serious depth and playful affability, this is THE rosé to drink with reckless and feckless abandon all spring, summer, and beyond!