Victor Sornin Beaujolais Rosé
The vibe: This cuvée is named after Victor, son and apprentice of Fred Sornin, who together run the estate as 9th and 10th generation farmers and winemakers. This release, as with all of the Victor Sornin releases, is Fred’s tribute to natural winemaking methods, and reflects the new generation of winemakers as his son is involved in making it - including drawing the label! We love a light rosé that drinks with more layered, juicy depth than its color suggests. Behind this light rosé is a bright, crunchy fruit bomb, dry profile and zippy acidity providing great tension and balance. This one goes down way too easy with a big chill!
The winemaker: Fred Sornin is the 9th generation winemaker at this estate based in the Regnie Cru. His vines are between 50 and 60 years old. Named after the winemaker’s son Victor, this bottle is a special project with the focus of building upon their existing organic winemaking to make wines that are as natural as possible using the best grapes. Victor participates with Frédéric in all aspects of winemaking. He is a true apprentice, learning at the side of his Papa so he too can one day make great wines on his own.
The geeky details: The Sornins have access to very old Gamay vines (40+ years), densely planted (10,000 vines/hectare) to sandy granitic soils. The fields are tended by sheep, and their droppings are the only fertilizer these vineyards will ever see. Everything is hand-harvested, as befits an Organic winery, and Nature is allowed to run its course with indigenous yeasts doing their work in stainless tanks. The wine then stays in tank until Spring, at which time it’s bottled unfined and with just a light filtering.
Serve: With a chill.
Food pairing: We’ve been digging the premixed salads at Trader Joes a little too much lately - for when it’s too hot out to cook inside (or outside, for that matter). If you’re feeling extra fancy I suppose you could whip up a fruit salad or strawberry balsamic situation from scratch, and it would go brilliantly with this lil rosé number.
Album pairing: Lapa Dula - Agua EP