Osprey’s Dominion Vineyards reminds me a little bit of a winery like Beringer. One one hand, they make some sweet, entry-level wines that I assume are meant for the trailer park set.
But, they also make some of my favorite red wines on the other end of their portfolio. Perhaps it’s a matter of making wines for the masses to pay for the wines winemaker and U.C. Davis grad Adam Suprenant really wants to make?
Anyway, I recently tasted through some of their new and upcoming releases for a column I’m writing, so you’ll get to see my notes here and there over the next week or so–starting with this sparkler, which may or may not be the winery’s first. I’m not sure.
I would describe Osprey’s Dominion 2002 Rose de Noir as a "near miss."
I really wanted love this wine because it is a thing of beauty in the glass—an attractive pale salmon pink with a delicate mousse. The nose offers berry aromas—cherry, strawberry and cranberry—but not much else.
Cherry flavors dominate a medium-bodied palate and are joined by cranberries and citrus. But, while somewhat lively in the mouth, I prefer my bubbly much drier and there were some off-putting medicinal flavors on the finish. All told, this wine is just okay and there are several better local options.