2022 Union Sacre 'Oasis Vineyard' Pinot Gris, Santa Lucia Highlands, California (750ml)
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A Monthly Wine Club Selection
Peach hue. Aromas of peach skin, pear flesh and white flowers. The palate is bright and fruity, with flavors of papaya, Mirabelle plum and orange blossom, and a plush, slightly pithy texture. The finish is long and fruit-laced with thirst-quenching acidity.
Deriving its name from the heritages of its two founders, Union Sacré Winery is: “Inspired by Alsace. Rooted in California.” Founded in 2013 by two long-time friends from different continents, Xavier Arnaudin, is a WSET certified, oenology degree holding ex-boxer from France, and Philip Muzy, a self-taught, free-spirited designer from Michigan. Xavier has worked as cellar master or assistant winemaker for some of the Central Coast’s most luminous wineries, including Sans Liege, Arcadian and Herman Story. Philip worked at Proof Wine Collective before assuming the role of creative director at Herman Story and Desparada. Between the two of them, they have over 35 years of experience working in Central Coast wineries.
Union Sacré is focused on elegant, table-ready, single vineyard, monovarietal wines. The winery is in Tin City, an evolving industrial makers’ market nestled amongst the oaks in Paso Robles. Tin City is also home to several wine, craft beer and small batch spirits producers.
The two-sided label is meant to symbolize the two different worlds. “The front side, is clean, classic, tidy, organized and tells you all the details you need to know. The other side is totally wack-a-doo—but from the same substance. The front tells you what it is and the back shows you what it feels.”
Don’t let the peachy hue fool you—this is no rosé! It is instead a distinct style of white wine known as ramato, from the word ‘rame’ which means ‘copper’ in Italian; a traditional method of producing orange wine from Pinot Grigio in the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region of Italy. The juice from white wine grapes is deliberately left exposed to the skins instead of being directly pressed. The result is a wine with a beautiful copper-tinged hue and a supple, delicately textured mouthfeel.
100% Pinot Gris from the Oasis Vineyard. The grapes were hand-sorted and 100% destemmed. Soaked in juice for 20 hours of skin contact to extract flavor and pressed the next day. A natural pink color comes from the skins. The juice was fermented for 4 weeks in stainless-steel tanks at 50°F. The resulting wine was aged for 6 months on its lees in stainless steel and bottled unfiltered. 732 cases made.