Deux Punx, "Rosé de Pinot Gris" 2019

Producer Profile: Founded in 2008, Deux Punx have been making wines that in some way complicate or belie the charge of their name: yes they are two ex-punks who have always been properly wine-addicted, but no their wines are not the renegade dogmatically cloudy and intensity-driven beverages you may expect. Rather, ‘Deux Punx’ is more about intuition and instinct, the punkishly pragmatic, the non-over-thinking sincerity that undergirds an honest product. Dan Schaaf and Aaron Olson are also ex-punks as in they have long had and continue to have dayjobs in addition to being winemakers, which, to their minds, makes them gleeful outsiders in both worlds. They just do their thing because they love it and don’t want to give up the stability of their 9-5s for what has for them always been a passion+joy-driven endeavor in making wine. Utilizing the minimialist facilities over in the River East Neighborhood of Napa to keep costs low (they also made a one-off carbonic fermenter from Saran wrap), the pair source their grapes from growers they’ve long admired: organic/biodynamic farmers from small plots around Humboldt County, Lake County, Scribner Bend in Clarksburg, to Suma Kaw and Carneros. Richly original and intuitive with a core of juice-for-juice’s-sake (joy-for-joy’s sake), this is pure California from a couple of happy (ex-)punks!

Vinification: 100% Pinot Gris purchased from a practicing organic and biodynamic vineyard in Tres Pinos, a small town located in San Benito County, CA. Going for a ramato style wine, the grapes undergo primary fermentation in stainless steel using native yeasts and macerate with the skins for 1 week. The juice is then racked into old oak for a brief aging period, and finally bottled unfined, unfiltered with a touch of SO2. 

Tasting: A glowing, cloudy orange hue in the glass. Medium-bodied with a spicy, herbaceous nose. On the palate, notes of papaya and blood orange. There's a nice viscosity to the texture, bringing to mind orange jello. Plenty of spice and bite on the finish. A true cold-weather rosato to warm you up.