Vina Robles 2021 Spring Newsletter

n e w s l e t t e r SPRING 2021

Inside this

ISSUE 3 A Note from Hans-R. Michel 4 Featured Wine 5 New Release 6 In the Vineyard 7 In the Cellar

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DEAR FRIENDS, With the recent advent of bud break, our estate vineyards are beginning to burst forth with abundant green growth. Bud break comes like clockwork every spring, but the magic of watching the vines come alive never gets old.

This year, we are also encouraged by the return of service to our Hospitality Center.

In early March, San Luis Obispo County attained California’s “red tier” status, enabling us to open for limited indoor service to complement our outdoor tasting and bistro offerings. Our county and state continue to trend well, and we are hopeful for continued progress.

Through it all, we remain committed to guest safety, so please be assured that we are following all guidelines regarding distancing and masking.

Being able to welcome you into our Hospitality Center is something that means the world to us. We are thrilled to have come this far, and we look forward to seeing you here this spring or summer.

Best regards, Hans-R. Michel

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FEATURED WIN

Featured Wine

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2020 ROSÉ

PASO ROBLES Our 2020 Rosé is inspired by the refreshing, dry rosés of southern France. With its sun-soaked slopes and coastal ambiance, Paso Robles boasts an ideal terroir for echoing the flavor and spirit of these popular Mediterranean wines.

The 2020 vintage is a blend of Syrah (62%), Grenache (33%) and Viognier (5%) from our estate Huerhuero Vineyard. The fruit was harvested at night for pure fruit retention. The Syrah was cold soaked on its skins for two hours to extract color, flavor and a beautiful light coral hue. Each lot was fermented with a selected yeast strain to accentuate the fresh fruit aromas.

In the final blend, the Syrah sets the tone with vibrant fruit flavors. The Grenache layers in luscious strawberry notes, while the Viognier adds aromatic lift.

TASTING NOTES The 2020 Rosé offers strikingly fragrant red fruit aromas with notes of green apple and orange blossom. Bright, juicy flavors of cherry, watermelon and tangerine carry a smooth texture with tangy acidity and hints of spice. Crisp minerality lingers on a luscious, mouthwatering finish.

PAIRING RECOMMENDATIONS The 2020 Rosé is a delightful match for light spring and summer fare, including charcuterie, fish tacos, flatbread with feta cheese and lime-grilled chicken salad with watermelon.

2018 ZINFANDEL As the heritage variety of Paso Robles, Zinfandel is a natural fit for our family of wines. Zinfandel has been grown in our region since the mid 1800s for good reason—it thrives in our dry, rocky soils and warm Mediterranean climate.

The grapes for our 2018 Zinfandel come from three estate vineyards: Pleasant Valley, Jardine and a small head-trained planting at our Hospitality Center. Each site contributes its own varied expression of the Zinfandel grape, bringing added dimension to the wine. The individual lots were aged for 20 months in French and American oak barrels prior to blending.

The 2018 Zinfandel is marked by its depth of flavor and sense of restraint. Fresh cherry aromas anticipate notes of plum, coffee and amaretto. A sleek, integrated palate delivers deep brambly berry-cherry flavors with suggestions of cedar and mocha. Hints of spice emerge on a long, balanced finish.

TECHNICAL NOTES AGING:

BOTTLING DATE: RELEASE DATE: ALCOHOL:

FRENCH AND AMERICAN OAK BARRELS JUNE 2, 2020 MARCH 1, 2021 15.5%

NEW RELEAS

New Release

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In The Vineyard with Viticulturalist Carter Collins GROWING WHITES While Paso Robles may be most known for its bold red wines, it is also an under-the-radar region for aromatic whites such as those grown in our estate Huerhuero Vineyard.

The key to growing expressive white wines is matching them to the perfect microclimate. For us, that means planting our most delicate aromatic whites—Albariño, Vermentino and Verdejo—in the coolest recesses of our estate Huerhuero Vineyard. Viognier is a bit richer by nature and style, so we have planted it in an area elevated above the others, where it gains more sun exposure.

With white grapes, the goal is to attain ripeness while maintaining abundant acidity.

If conditions are too warm and exposed throughout the growing season, the acids within the fruit will respire more readily. When that happens, you can end up with a white wine that tastes “flabby.”

For this reason, we do everything we can to retain perfect acid levels right up through harvest. Our main ally in this effort is the marine influence of the Templeton Gap, a notch in the coastal mountains west of Paso Robles. Nearly every day, Pacific Ocean breezes blow through the gap and into Huerhuero Vineyard.

Huerhuero is our “home” vineyard, located just a few miles due east of downtown Paso Robles. Our winery is situated on the northwest corner of the property. The vineyard is named for Huerhuero Creek, which winds along the eastern border of the property.

One of my favorite things to do with visitors is bring them out to one of the hilltops at Huerhuero Vineyard at around 3 p.m. in the afternoon—this is when the ocean breezes arrive like clockwork, and then you can feel exactly what I’m talking about.

Additionally, by planting our whites in the lower blocks of Huerhuero’s rolling terrain, we are able to throttle back sun exposure and take advantage of the fact that warm air rises while cold air settles. This means that the brisk morning air hangs around longer in these lower blocks, helping the white grapes maintain that allimportant natural acidity.

When you taste a Vina Robles white wine that is bright, crisp and aromatic, this is where it all begins—in the vineyard, where we take great care to nurture the native gifts of our terrain and climate.

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In The Winery

with Winemaker Kevin Willenborg

MAKING WHITES When you experience a white wine from Vina Robles, we want to you to be impressed by the aromas that come from the glass. And while the magic of these aromas begins in the vineyard, getting them into the bottle requires considerable passion and vigilance from our winemaking team.

“Aromas come from the grapes,” says Winemaker Kevin Willenborg. “Once the fruit is harvested, our job in the winery is to do everything we can to preserve those aromatics.”

This effort stems from the fact that it is very easy for white wines to lose their most delicate and tantalizing aromatic compounds during the fermentation and winemaking processes. And because aromas are so closely tied to flavors, how you handle them is what makes the difference between a captivating white wine and one that misses the mark.

As Kevin notes, the chemistry of white wine aromatics is different from reds. “White wine aromatics are especially fragile and delicate,” he says. “They are volatile by nature, and more susceptible to degradation and oxidation. You have to treat them with care in order to make sure that they aren’t lost before they reach the bottle.”

The task of keeping these aromatic compounds intact begins with fermentation. “Most aroma compounds are bound to sugars in the fruit, and they are released during fermentation as the yeast convert the sugars to alcohol and C02,” Kevin says.

To ensure that these released aromas do not escape the wine, Kevin and his team keep the fermentation temperatures as cool as possible. “Most volatile components evolve out of solution at warmer temperatures,” Kevin says. “So we want it just warm enough for the yeasts to remain active, but cool enough to retain as many aromatics as possible.”

Because the fermentation process generates its own heat, all of our fermenters feature wrap-around “jackets” that are filled with chilled water that enables Kevin to keep fermentation temperatures from soaring.

Technology also plays a key role during the aging process. Each of our tanks is plumbed for nitrogen gas that is generated on site. Anytime we rack or transfer a wine from one tank to another, we purge the tank with nitrogen prior to filling. The inert nitrogen displaces the oxygen and creates an invisible blanket that protects against oxidation.

As a result, our whites go from ground to glass with the minimal amount of aromatic attrition from warmth or oxidation—resulting in wines that burst from the glass with fresh, multifaceted aromas and flavors.

“Having a modern winery with state-of-the-art equipment really helps,” Kevin says.

“But it is also a matter of being committed to the process at every step. We love what our white wines can offer, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

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ABOUT VINA ROBLES Growers and makers of expressive, approachable estate wines from Paso Robles, California, Vina Robles owns and farms six estate SIP® Certified Sustainable vineyards in five sub-districts in the region. First class hospitality service is offered by way of unique, memorable experiences with wine, food and music at their core. The vineyards & winery are owned and managed by two Swiss families who have been farming winegrapes in Paso Robles for more than 20 years.

1200 Priska Drive, Paso Robles, CA 93446 805-227-4812 VinaRobles.com