Pink is hot! Our Dry Rosé was a big hit when we offered it exclusively to our Vintage Reserve Club members last year. Based on their feedback, we decided to release it nationally with this 2006 vintage. The name, Nellie’s Garden, honors Nellie Stimson whose passion for gardening created the beautiful estate gardens at our Chateau in Woodinville. The wine is a special collaboration between our red winemaking team at Canoe Ridge Estate in eastern Washington and the white winemaking team at our Woodinville Chateau, located outside of Seattle. We receive the red fruit at Canoe Ridge Estate where Joshua Maloney, our red winemaker, gives it just enough skin contact for the perfect color. Then he drains the juice off the skins and turns it over to Brennon Leighton, our white winemaker, who then cold ferments most of the juice to keep all those fresh fruit and floral aromas. What a team effort and what a wonderfully refreshing dry rose! It shows beautiful fruit aromas and flavors of strawberry, cherry, raspberry with subtle spice notes. Enjoy this during your spring and summer parties and BBQ’s. It’s the perfect “deck” wine…versatile and fun!
-Bob Bertheau, Head Winemaker
Columbia Valley vineyards lie in the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains and receive just 6-8 inches of rainfall annually.
Warm, sunny days and cool evening temperatures create ideal conditions for intense aroma and flavor development in the ripening grapes.
Sandy soils with low fertility and low water-holding capacity enable precise control of vine growth.
A northerly latitude gives the Columbia Valley roughly two more hours of sunlight daily during the peak-growing season than California, increasing the region’s ability to ripen fruit.
