PRODUCER: Colète
REGION: Napa, California
WINEMAKERS: Rajat Parr, Marie Vayron Ponsonnet
WINERY HISTORY
Colète is a passion project born out of a friendship between California wine legend Raj Parr and Pomerol sommelier-turned-winemaker Marie Vayron Ponsonnet. Inspired by Marie’s home on the Right Bank, Chateau Bourgneuf, Colète was created to make Pomerol-style Merlot from Napa Valley grapes. (For the uninitiated, Pomerol is a small region set apart from St. Émilion on the Right Bank of Bordeaux, long regarded as Merlot’s defining terroir. Typically soft, rounded, and well structured, the best expressions show flavours of hedgerow fruit and plum with a distinct minerality.) The winery is named after a parcel on Marie’s familial estate, an exclusive plot which produces a crisp and youthful Merlot. This is the style the duo continues to chase, dedicated to showing just how exceptional Napa Merlot can be when grown on well-drained volcanic soils with marine influence.
VITICULTURE & WINEMAKING
To mimic the Pomerol style, Marion and Raj searched for two-years before settling on the Black Vineyard in Coombsville. Farmed organically with the assistance of rising stars Diego Roig and Shaunt Oungoulian, the winemaking is respectful and minimalistic. Berries are destemmed and cold maceration takes place for 5 days. This is followed by a fourteen-day fermentation in 20hl Taransaud foudre for gentle extraction and infusion. No SO2 is used during vinification and the minimum at bottling. The wine is aged in used French oak barrels (228L) for 22-months. These techniques ensure a delicate balance and distinctly Bordeaux style.
Colète captures everything we love about a Raj Parr wine. And we have Marie to thank, having persuaded the King of Cali-Pinot to give the Pomerol variety a West Coast home with a wonderful result. The duo also produces a 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 50% Semillon white wine from organic grapes grown in Napa. This white undergoes a long fermentation through indigenous yeast, before being aged for 11 months in used 228L French oak barrels.
GRAPE VARIETIES
Merlot, Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc
