2018 LIOCO Indica Rose Mendocino County 750 ml

Old-Vine, Single-Site, Can’t Miss Rosé

Led by proprietors Matt and Sara Licklider, LIOCO has rocketed to one of Wine & Spirits Magazine’s Top 100 wineries in the world by focusing with laser precision on two things: dry farming and fascinating California terroir.

Their unending search for soil led to the Indica Rosé, an outstanding, single-vineyard rosé that’s disappearing by the case. From coast to coast, it’s being poured by the glass at more serious wine bars and restaurants than we can count, including chic summer spots like the Rose Cafe at Venice Beach, Hog Island Oyster Company, and the Liho Liho Yacht Club in San Francisco. They’re all pouring Indica Rosé, and pouring it fast.

The copper-colored Indica is intensely aromatic, and the palate bursts with lip-smacking strawberry, blood orange, and candied lime flavors that make finishing a bottle all too easy. Finishing bone-dry with vibrant acidity, this old-vine rosé is simply as good as California gets. It’s the kind of wine you want to keep within reach 24/7, no matter the season.

The site behind the liquid magic is the Bartolomei Brothers Vineyard in Mendocino County, where Matt and Sara found 80-year-old Carignan vines growing out of red clay. That inspiring site has now been the single vineyard behind Indica for five years—yes, you read that right, this is a single-vineyard rosé. And an incredible 2018 vintage gifted the Carignan at Bartolomei with an extra month of hang time, which sent the fruit quality off the charts.

“We stood in the vineyard tasting the fruit, and seriously contemplated making a red wine out of it,” Matt told us, as he refreshed our pours at LIOCO’s Healdsburg tasting room recently. “The skins brought so much great flavor, and the tannins were perfect.”

He held his glass up against the late afternoon light, coming in from  Healdsburg Town Square, and we followed his lead. “But check out that color. We love rosé, we’re dedicated to rosé, and have a great track record with the vineyard. So basically what could have been a $35 red wine is now a rosé.”

The result is a rosé with the kind of stunning complexity that’s sent buyers on a frenzy for this wine, and today on Wine Access, it’s available at a fraction of the price as at one of the aforementioned restaurants—but at the pace they’re pouring it, they’ll be tapped out soon.