DATE CONSUMED
Saturday, March 17, 2012
VINTAGE
2010
WINERY/PRODUCER
Fratelli Perata
WINE NAME
Modo Mio
TYPE OF WINE
Rose
COMPOSITION
100% Montepulciano
SUBNAME/NICKNAME
N/A
VINEYARD DESIGNATION
N/A
REGION/A.V.A.
Paso Robles, California
ALCOHOL CONTENT
13.2%
PRICE PAID
$28.00
WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED
We bought this bottle at the winery’s tasting room in Paso Robles in November, 2011.
BOUQUET
Wow, talk about something different!
This is one of the most interesting smelling and tasting roses I’ve EVER had. Sadly, the bouquet has an extremely similar aroma to something I once smelled YEARS ago but I can’t quite put my finger on it (Was it a candy I ate as a kid 40+ years ago? Was it an Italian cookie I ate as a teenager once 40 years ago? I’m familiar with the aroma, but I just can’t quite recall what it is). Since my recollection has failed me, let’s put it this way: the wine smells very herbaceous, along with elements of oily quinine (that’s the best way I can describe it), including chalky, earthy notes.
TASTING NOTES
This is a FANTASTIC rose that is unlike any other I’ve ever had (and I’ve had quite a few, mostly Pinot-based along with my fair share of Southern Rhone blends). Just like the wine’s amazing bouquet, the flavor profile is likewise difficult to describe.
The wine pours a gorgeous pink-ish/salmon-ish hue and is slightly effervescent. Like most roses, there are suggestions of strawberries and cream, along with a mountain of herbs and earth/soil. The wine has a very zesty, spicy finish (unlike most roses) and exhibits fantastic terrior (you can really taste the western side of Paso in this wine!). According to the back label (applied by hand by the winery’s family members), Fratelli Perata’s wines are dry farmed, unfined, and unfiltered; I’m a HUGE proponent of these concepts as I believe they add depth of flavor, complexity, and character, thus allowing the soil, weather, grapes, and winemaking techniques to shine untethered by modern, mass-produced winemaking applications.
Note: there was a ton of sediment at the bottom of the bottle, attesting to the claims of unfined and unfiltered wine, which I don’t mind one bit; the proof’s in the pudding!
PAIRING SUGGESTIONS
We drank this bottle on a cold, rainy, blustery, atypical Southern California day with Italian salami and cheeses. Unfortunately, this is such a seriously good rose that it was almost a waste of a great bottle with such trifles. This wine deserves to be paired with seriously good food, such as a Scottish salmon steak smothered in Kosher salt, freshly-cracked black pepper, and Herbs de Provence, or chicken scaloppini (though this wine is so good, it’ll make anything you’re eating taste that much better!).
AGING POTENTIAL
Roses are meant to be drunk young, and this wine is drinking beautifully right now. Based on the wine’s acidity, tannins, and structure in general, I would imagine this rose would actually continue to drink well for another year or two. But I can’t imagine it getting any better, so if you have a bottle of this rose in your cellar, fridge, or wine closet, chill it down and drink it up!
SCORE
91
Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)
Good-Excellent
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