The winery was named by Joe Swan when he founded it thirty years ago. Joe came to wine making from an unlikely background. He grew up the son of teetotaler parents in the farm country of North Dakota. He was an avid reader, and he happened to read about wine. Not lacking for imagination but definitely lacking for grapes, he set out to make wine. Using his mother's ringer washing machine, he squeezed the juice from some rhubarb from the garden, and, in a crock he had secreted in the attic, proceeded to produce his first "wine".
Joe really believed that, when it came to grape growing and winemaking, small was beautiful. A small vineyard could be tended by one person. Small crops led to more intense age worthy wines. A small winery allowed you to oversee every aspect from fermentation to bottling. Joe was a perfectionist and felt that if the wine was to carry his name, then he should be personally responsible for every aspect of its production.
Joseph Swan passed away in 1989, but his legacy and vineyard lives on thanks to the talents of Swan’s son-in-law, Rod Berglund. Rod became a winemaker in 1979, largely due to Swan’s encouragement. Rod is now the owner & winemaker of Joseph Swan vineyards, along with his wife Lynn, Joe's daughter.
The Cotes du Rosa started out being a "Mystery Wine" at Joseph Swan. They wanted to maintain a bit of allure by withholding the wine's grape variety. Eventually, word got out that this lovely wine, draped in bright fruit and minerality, was indeed Carignan.
Aromas: fresh red raspberry, strawberry and ruby grapefruit. lush ground black pepper, violet, ripe Bing cherry
Color: rich garnet, magenta
Body: refreshingly medium-bodied
Taste: zingy red fruit and marvelous acidity, understated yet stern tannin, rose petals and white pepper.
Case Production: 119 cases
Alcohol: 13.5%
This wine is picked late in season, around late November, from 90 year old vines from the Mancini Ranch Vineyard in the Russian River Valley. Much to my liking, this Carignan is 100% whole cluster and native yeast fermented in neutral french oak for six months.
Another fun fact? The Cote du Rosa is pressed by the loving feet at Joseph Swan. No machines necessary! Drink young, or age to your heart's desire.
This is our 18th vintage of this wine! Over the last year we have gone to the closed stacks of the library and pilfered a few bottles to see how they are doing. The fascinating thing was that while the winemaking and vineyard management has resulted in less rustic, more refined wines over the years, the basic fruit character has remained constant. Bright aromas of fresh red berries, ruby grapefruit and liquid black pepper. In the mouth it is quite fresh, a little tight and a bit leaner than the last couple of vintages. These old, dry farmed vines and the whole cluster fermentation has delivered again. from the Joseph Swan Feb newsletter.
