Press Gang Cellars Rosé of Grenache 2020

Press Gang Cellars Rosé of Grenache 2020 is a blend of 90% Grenache from Brave and Maiden Estate (Los Olivos District AVA) and 10% Grenache from Robert Rae Ranch (Sta. Rita Hills AVA). Brave and Maiden is a Sustainability In Practice-certified estate situated on a broad alluvial terrace in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley, with uniform soils at elevations between 400 and 1,000 feet. Robert Rae Ranch sits at 800 feet on a north-facing slope at the eastern edge of the Sta. Rita Hills, a 118-acre site that benefits from coastal fog and maritime winds off the Pacific.

Kyle Knapp ferments Press Gang fruit using native yeast and keeps intervention in the cellar to a minimum. The wine is a direct-press rosé, not a saignée, which produces a lighter extraction and a pale pink color. On the nose it leads with orange peel and grapefruit blossom. On the palate it draws comparisons to Provençal rosé in its dry, fresh structure.

Production at Press Gang is genuinely tiny. No single wine in the lineup has exceeded 56 cases. Kyle Knapp runs the label alongside his role as head winemaker at Stolpman Vineyards, sourcing exclusively from like-minded growers across Santa Barbara County. Press Gang was founded in 2010 by Kyle and Savanna Knapp and takes its name from a song by the Murder City Devils.