2017 Rosé of Sangiovese was created using the saignée method, a technique whereby I drain off juice from the main body of the Sangiovese crop, which has had skin contact for a 24 hour period. The resulting juice for this Rose is light pink in color.

The juice was placed in last year’s Sangiovese barrels for primary fermentation for 14-60 days and stirred twice on the gross lees. The wine was then racked off the gross lees and returned to barrel, where it was stirred again twice, or bâtonnage, adding texture to the wine. The wine was allowed to go through partial secondary (malolactic) fermentation. The result is pale pink in color, with a bit more depth on the palate due to barrel fermentation and the partial malolactic. The wine was fermented dry.

The Hunter 2017 is a classic Bordeaux inspired white blend. The backbone is all Semillon adding structure and notes of grapefruit and melon to the blend, without any unripe flavors. I'm personally not a fan of grassy Sauvignon Blanc, so the remaining 20% is ultra-ripe Sav Blanc to lend tropical flavors to the finished blend. Added complexity comes from barrel fermentation in neutral French oak.

For those that want all the technical specs The Hunter and Rose of Sangiovese

I've been down in Bakersfield more in the last few weeks than I have in the last few years. Good thing too, there's some good quality food in the the Southern San Joaquin Valley.

Luigi's Deli has been providing high-quality products to the people of Bakersfield for over a century. One of many products they carry is Allesina Salumi from San Luis Obispo.

After my drive back to Fresno, I sliced right into this little jewel. The smell of the outside is classic salumi, a bit gamey, moldy, yeasty...old world, old school. The inside has a wonderful combination of flavor of fat, meat and spice. All balanced. Really wonderful product.

I've been eating Creminelli products recently and they are equally as good. But the real test will be to eat them side-by-side. I'm looking forward to the challenge.