Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/961311
{ SOMMjournal.com } 45 named Père et Fils rosé "Sabine" after his first daughter, who was born the same year he founded the winery. According to Bieler, one of the pre - vailing issues with Provencal rosé is that "there can often a be a bit of a hole in the middle of the wine," meaning they can be overly lean and almost "absent" mid-palate. That doesn't mean a rosé should be heavy, he clarifies, but their fruit and aromatics should create a bridge from start to finish. Overall, though, Bieler said he finds himself in awe of of the region of Provence and the dry rosé category as a whole has grown. "It's amazing to think of the pro - gression of the conversation and region," he added. "I take enormous pride and satisfaction in this conversation, in both the interest and consumption." As we moved to the next course, we transported from Provence to Washington State as we opened Bieler's Syrah-based rosé. Produced with Charles Smith, a rock star of affordable winemaking, Bieler high - lighted his mission of producing high-quality yet budget-friendly wines. "I'm a value guy—the rubber meets the road when you don't have to be concerned about opening up a bottle," he says. "I want a wine for ev - ery night, and my broad mission is to bring small-batch wine making to scale." In the Pacific Northwest, at least, he's al - ready achieved this. Championing the soils of Washington State, Bieler teamed up with Smith about ten years ago. He found that while winemakers could produce good rosé in Santa Barbara and Sonoma, the cost of fruit was too high, and the realization led his search northward. "In Washington, there's more natural acidity and the diurnal shift is enormous," he says. "I said [to Smith], 'I think we can make a world-class value rosé.' I admired what he was doing winemaking-wise." At lunch, we sipped the Charles & Charles rosé alongside Charlie Bird's farro salad loaded with chunks of honeynut squash, nutty parmigiano, and crunchy pistachios. The superb pairing highlighted that this wine showed more watermelon and stone fruit flavors than the Provencal bottle while still maintaining a striking acid - ity. Bieler revealed that despite being made from fruit picked in late October, the wine clocks in at just 12.3% ABV. We rounded out the tasting with two reds and two dishes: Bieler Père et Fils La Jassine Côtes du Rhône Villages, a blend of 63% Grenache and 37% Syrah, and the Charles & Charles Cabernet Sauvignon- Syrah served with spaghetti cacio e pepe and crispy farm chicken. La Jassine was first produced in 2015 in the small village of Valréas, which Bieler describes as "the breaking point of the valley." Made with fruit that's stem-fermented and aged in concrete, the wine oozes with flavors of black fruit and earth and was brought to life by the peppery notes in the pasta dish. The Charles & Charles, meanwhile, is 100% native yeast fermented with acidity preserved by Columbia Valley's intense diurnal temperature swings ("Take note of the texture," Bieler said as we twirled pasta around our forks). The fruit under - goes 40 days of skin contact and co-fer- ments; Bieler highlighted the "fullness and richness that native yeast brings," noting that fruit comes from high elevations in sandy, volcanic soils. As we sipped and savored the impec - cable pairings, I couldn't help but suspect that Bieler must have something else up his sleeve. When asked what he has planned next, he revealed an interest in getting involved with the cannabis industry, which he described as "combin - ing flavor and feeling." While it might be an unexpected move for the winemaker, it wouldn't be the first time Bieler boldly as - cended to previously-unexplored heights, surveyed the scene, and dove straight in— with or without his skis. Charlie Bird Wine Director Brandon Borcoman with Charles Bieler.