Pink Pinot Grigio in Los Angeles

[MariaFeliz]

I recently had a glass of Point Concepcion "Celestina" Santa Barbara Pinot Grigio Rose at Akasha in Los Angeles. I went looking for a bottle at some wine stores, but I can't find it. I tried Wally's in Westwood, a couple of wine stores around/on La Cienega and Melrose...no luck. Anyone out there seen this or have any ideas of where I might purchase in LA? Or can someone recommend a good wine store in Santa Barbara?

[monkuboy]

I thought Pinot Grigio was a white grape?

[Maximilien]

I tought the same, but after a quick googling, I discovered that the grape has a "red" skin.

The skin is "dark", so if you let the juice in contact with the skin, it will turn rosé.

(it's same process for some rosé Champagne, it can be created by either using some red wine or by letting the juice steep with the skin of Pinot Noir)

[monkuboy]

Thanks for clarifying that. I've only seen that grape with white wines, so now I know!

[mac8111]

True.

If wineries press the grapes too much, the tint of the wine can certainly turn pinkish. So some wineries will just break the skins of the grapes and let the free run juice run.

If a winery gets too greedy, and they end up with pinkish pinot grigio, then they have to use a fining agent to strip out the color (since most Americans would not purchase a rose colored Pinot Grigio off the shelf!). Problem is, the fining agent takes the color, but also something else that you don't want it to take. So it ends up being a lackluster wine.

[vinosnob]

This wine is made by the infamous Peter Cargasacchi. Retail distribution in the LA area is limited, but perhaps he can steer you in the right direction: [e-mail]

My favorite wine store in SB is the Wine Cask: https://store.winecask.com/winestore/

Also, try searching for it using www.winesearcher.com

[MariaFeliz]

Thank you!!. And now you have piqued my curiosity and I have to search on Chow/web to find out why Cargasacchi is "infamous"...