Empathy Rosé 2018
- Crisp, dry
- California
Every decade or so, there’s a wine offering that signifies a step change in the vinous landscape. This is one of those wines. Welcome to the new wine industry, mofos.
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This wine, emblazoned with its own very mission statement, says to the world – says to you: ‘Enough with middlemen fees and fake labels. They can keep their wines with no provenance; no story; no meaning. This. Is. Empathy.’
Empathy for the makers and the drinkers. And Vinomofo is bringing GaryVee’s Empathy Wines to the world stage, with their first ever wine offering.
What is Empathy?
We’re pretty damn excited to be exclusively launching this singular, story-led Californian wine in Australia.
“It’s not just an awesome rosé,” says JD, our illustrious CEO and leader, “it cements our commitment to bringing the best and most cutting edge wines to our wine-loving tribe of mofos.”
It is an awesome rosé too, of course. Gary and his mates (and co-founders of Empathy) Jon Troutman and Nate Scherotter, found three like-minded spirits in Northern California – farmers who shared their need to change the wine landscape for the better. Across Lake Country and Lodi, Clay Shannon, Markus Bokisch and the Mettler Family answered the call to co-create the best rosé money could buy, at a price that everyone could afford.
The wine draws from global inspiration, with a cheeky wink to France. Think Northern Cali boldness meets French styling. A juicy blend of grapes, with grenache and syrah up front giving it gusto, spicy mouthfeel and earthen richness. Pinot noir gives it silkiness and secrecy to counter its aromatic exuberance. The result is a wine of unmistakable personality, tension, texture and individuality. Gary called this “probably the greatest rosé ever made.” He would say that... luckily, it’s damn good.
More about Empathy Wines & GaryVee
Gary Vaynerchuk, aka GaryVee, is a rockstar in the worlds of wine and entrepreneurship, best known for his own Wine Library TV and the VaynerMedia empire. 5.5 million Instagram followers agree. Empathy Wines is his newest venture, and the company’s mission aligns perfectly with Vinomofo’s mission to connect everyone with wine they’ll love, at the right price.
“Whoever has the most empathy for the consumers and the farmer will win the wine game,” says Vaynerchuk. “That’s why I’m calling it Empathy.”
Of course, if you want to know what winning tastes like, you’ll have to buy your own bit of pink history.
And if you miss out, we feel for you.
It’s cool, we get it, you want to know absolutely everything about this wine. Well here you go, go nuts.
Specs
- Region
- California
- Vintage
- 2018
- Cellaring
- Now
- Preservatives
- Sulphites
- Alcohol by Vol.
- 12.9%
- Closure
- Cork
- Bottle Vol
- 750mL
- Blend Info
- 32% shiraz, 24% pinot noir, 18% grenache, 9% barbera, 9% tannat, 5% carignan, 3% muscat
- Serving Temp.
- 8.0°C
Tasting
From the producer
Vibrant salmon pink in colour. Pretty aromas of strawberry, melon and mango. Sweetness of bright tropical fruit and strawberries are lifted by a good backbone of acidity and minerality. Luscious, bright and very drinkable. Enjoy at the beach, poolside or at home with family and friends. Cheers!
Winemaking
Viticulture
2018 was an ideal year to grow high quality wine in all major winegrowing regions in Northern California. The winter was mild with slightly above average rainfall. February rains filled reservoirs and kept soils moist through budbreak. The spring was mild which aided in good fruitset. We had warm summer months with no major heat spikes. July was warm, but a cool August slowed things down. This led to good fruit maturity as the cool temperatures pushed harvest out a bit. The grapes are all sourced from California’s North Coast appellations: Lodi, Solano County, Lake County (Red Hills and High Valley) and Dunnigan Hills. Growers: Bokisch Vineyards, Mettler Vineyards, Shannon Ranches and Muller Ranch.
Crafting
Fruit was picked into half tons bins and brought to the winery in small lots. These lots were fermented in small tanks, keeping growers and varietals separate. The clusters were lightly pressed into separate 3-10 ton fermenters and cold settled for 24 hours. We then racked off gross lees and inoculated with specific yeast for each varietal. The fermentations were long and cold, starting at between 10 and 16 degrees celsius, attempting to align completion of the ferments. This retained the varietal aromatics and kept the new wine fresh and perky. The fermentations lasted approximately 30 days. After fermentation, the wine was racked off heavy lees and aged on light fluffy lees. We aged about 90% in tank and 10% in neutral French oak barrels. Each lot in tank and barrel was stirred every other week to integrate the aging lees into the wine, softening the mouthfeel and increasing the mid-palate.
Region
California
Ah, Cali. You bring the world so many things. Route 66, Santa Monica, Big Sur (although I drove through at night without realising that one time... it was very dark), the Golden Gate Bridge. And oh the wine! Napa Valley, Sonoma, Santa Barbara and Paso Robles are some regions that come to mind, but that's just skimming the surface. From the big marques like Mondavi and Ridge to fringe pioneers like Sean Thackrey, there's as much wine to explore as there are sunsets to see and routes to cruise. Start here, then.
The rules are there ain’t no rules, but here are some foods we think will work pretty well with this wine...
Goes with
California rolls
Ingredients
- 1/2 quantity Basic sushi rice
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons S&B wasabi paste
- 3 nori sheets
- 1 small avocado, peeled, cut into strips
- 1 medium red capsicum, cut into strips
- 170g can crab meat, drained
Directions
- Make Basic sushi rice. Mix mayonnaise and wasabi in a bowl.
- Place 1 nori sheet, shiny-side down, on sushi mat. Using damp fingers, spread 1/2 cup rice over nori, leaving a 2cm strip at 1 short end. Spread 3 teaspoons mayonnaise mixture across centre of rice. Arrange 1/3 avocado, capsicum and crab over rice. Using sushi mat, roll up firmly to form a roll. Cut roll into 4 slices. Repeat with remaining ingredients to make 12 pieces.