Pale salmon color; raspberry, strawberry, red fruits on the nose; raspberry, strawberry, red grapefruit, watermelon on the palate.
Dry; light in the mouth; fruit-forward. Good acidity (3.38 pH). Blend of 83.1% pinot noir, 7.9% grenache, 3.2% chardonnay, 5.8% other grapes for aromatics. To emphasize fruit, 88% fermented in stainless steel, 12% in neutral oak. Delicious fruit in the mid-palate, followed by some tang and minerality on the finish. This is the second production of this wine. James Ewart is the winemaker.
The website notes: “The Pinot Noir for this Rosé is harvested earlier in the season when good natural acidity remained in the grapes. Picked in the early morning to minimize color extraction, the fruit was brought immediately to the winery in small bins. We blended a small amount of Grenache Rosé to lift the strawberry notes and a touch of beautifully aromatic Chenin Blanc to bring the floral fragrance. A small amount of the blend (11.7%) was barrel fermented in neutral oak to add just a touch of fatness on the palate. The rest was fermented in stainless steel. After two months, the wine was bottled.”
The winery and wine name comes from the golden hills of the Santa Lucia mountain range that frames the family-owned San Bernabe vineyard in Monterey. Diora is “inspired from “d’Or,” the French phrase meaning “golden” and bestowed on beautiful, sun-filled regions.”
Diora La Belle Fête Monterey Rosé of Pinot Noir 2020 is light, fun, rich, fruit-forward. Plenty of strawberry and raspberry flavors. Vibrant easy drinker that works as refreshing, tasty sipper. This is built to be perfect aperitif and as summer sipper on patios, poolside, porches, picnics, deck or dock. $16-20
