Idlewild Rosé Flora and Fauna North Coast 2023
California · Mendocino County · Proprietary Rosé Blends · red
About this wine
Sell out alert!! Here's a 92 POINT dazzling and complex rosé from Mendo’s legendary IDLEWILD winery! Under $15, simply RIDONKULOUS rosé!!! You Sunday shoppers are in for a TREAT today! Let’s go!!!! Sam Bilbro in DA HOUSE! Oh yeah, the 40 UNDER 40 Tastemaker, this devilishly handsome winemaking maven founded Idlewild in 2012 as a 4th generation vintner, but he’d be the first to admit it – wine wasn’t really his jam growing up. A fateful glass of Barbaresco changed all that – and suddenly, this Sonoma-born and raised lad found his entry into the wine industry through the sacred door of Piedmont! Idlewild takes the high-elevation hillsides of Mendocino and re-imagines the sloping hills of Piedmont – focusing on rarely-seen grapes (at least in California!), like Nebbiolo, Dolcetto, Barbera, and Grignolino. This bright, soulful, and crazily complex rosé co-ferments all four of these Piemonte Players into a compelling and intriguing 92 POINT effort that Galloni called “a delight”– and I sure ain’t gonna argue!!! I’m driving the drizzly hills and windy roads of Tuscany at the moment – but the second the sun peaks back out (any minute now, I’ve been told), you can bet your Jannik Sinner-signed racquet that I’ll be craving a frosty cold glass of this baby! Luckily, I popped a bottle before I left for the airport – and here’s what the me of several days back had to say: Bright, salty, savory, and floral notes wind their way upward with a few swirls – dried grass clippings, and intense blood orange, mingled with strawberry, white pepper, sage, spearmint, and tart cranberry and raspberry notes. Killer with food. Pork tenderloin and herb spaetzle fo’ sho! There you have it. 92 POINTS, under $15, and the ideal autumnal rosé. What more could you ask for?! Get all that you can – ‘cause there’s barely enough even for a slow Sunday!!! While it lasts! ** P.S. – It’s true what they say...Firenzians really do judge you by your shoes first. I like to think my super-stylish pair of Taft’s “Florence” Jack Boots won the day and got me in the good graces of the people. (Not a paid plug…but if any of y’all work for Taft – I’m happy to trade future plugs for more boots…hit me up.) **
Wine details
- Producer
- Idlewild
- Vintage
- 2023
- Region
- California
- Appellation
- Mendocino County
- Varietal
- Proprietary Rosé Blends
- Blend
- 41% Nebbiolo, 30% Dolcetto, 29% Barbera, and a touch of Grignolino
- Color
- red
- Winemaker
- Sam Bilbro
- Last Bottle price
- $13
- Retail price (estimate)
- $30
- Critic score
- 92 — Vinous