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J. Scott Cellars 2015 Grenache Rosé
Painting with the full palette of colors
Jonathan Oberlander, winemaker and founder of J. Scott Cellars, loves experimenting, dabbling, and playing with new varietals and unusual blends.
As he told the Register-Guard in 2013, “I have a buddy who has only made Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. To me that’s like painting in the colors red and blue only. You have this entire palette; why limit yourself? I go for it.” And he does. J. Scott features twenty-two different wines.
Which one is his favorite? Don’t ask – he’ll tell you it’s like picking your favorite child: they’re all great! (And sure enough, here at Cellar 503 we’ve already got plans to feature his wines twice this year.)
J. Scott Cellars is part of the burgeoning urban winery scene in Eugene, with a facility in an industrial park on the outskirts of town. The brick-and-mortar location is a nice step in the evolution of J. Scott.
Without a personal fortune to sink into wine, he’s bootstrapped his way up, starting with a production of just 100 cases when he started – and closing in on 2000 today.
Cellar 503 Tasting Notes
J. Scott Cellars, Eugene, Oregon
2015 Grenache Rosé
There are two ways to create rosé wine. Traditionally, winemakers would bleed off or saignée some of the lighter-colored juice from the top of the red wine in the tank. That intensifies the red, and the resulting pale pink was historically served to vineyard workers.
Today, with the emergence of great rosé wines, some winemakers are intentionally producing it by leaving the juice on the grape skins for only a short period of time.
This J Scott Grenache is a blend of both approaches. Half the juice comes is a saignée from his popular deep red Grenache and half the juice was made from fruit grown especially for the rosé.
This wine smells of strawberries and watermelon. It is lovely and round and full but balanced by a lively acidity. Passion fruit flavors linger and linger. This is the perfect wine for a picnic because it pairs well with everything from salads to barbecue.
A Cellar 503 selection in June 2016, Summer Rosé Special Rogue Valley | Grenache
