2020 Picayune Rose Hay Penny Mendocino County 750 ml

Picayune’s 2020 Hay Penny Rosé has the complexity and verve to stand up to the best of the Provence—at half the price of its more famous cousins.

That might explain why we’ve had such a hard time securing an allocation until now: Hay Penny is eagerly snatched up by Picayune’s devoted tasting-room clientele and a handful of lucky Napa restaurants, who love its combination of sun-ripened Mendocino fruit and salty, Pacific-breeze zest. It’s a perfect synthesis of California’s climate with French-born winemaker Claire Weinkauf’s exceptional sense of balance.

Claire has a 100-point pedigree, working for years under Napa star Paul Hobbs, but her passion is delivering exceptional wines at prices that are shockingly low for their quality. As a result, her wines have been favorites of some of the nation’s most prestigious restaurants, like Gramercy Tavern and The French Laundry—as well as Wine Access members’ cellars—for their outstanding value.

“Before anything, I’m a wine drinker,” Claire told us recently as she explained Picayune’s excellent price-to-quality ratio. “But when I got to California, I was shocked at how expensive good wines were. Picayune was born after too many bottles of really great, expensive wines. I want to drink really well, without declaring bankruptcy.”

A pale salmon-pink in the glass, the Hay Penny’s aromas of bright strawberry, blood-orange zest, and salty red currants are inviting—practically begging you to take a sip. Once the wine hits your palate, there’s an electricity and liveliness that previews many evenings of delightful al fresco drinking. Rhubarb, delicate red plum, and raspberry nuances combine with hints of rosemary for a wine that’s as refreshing as it is delicious—exactly what we’d expect given Picayune’s stellar track record.

Like her other wines, the vineyard source for this wine remains hidden behind an ironclad NDA, but the blend of 90% Grenache and 10% Syrah harkens back to her Provençal inspiration. Sourced from a cool Mendocino site that preserves brightness and acidity, Claire takes those grapes and ferments them in stainless steel, after a short maceration that gives the wine its color. Elegance and freshness are the goals here, and she more than achieves it—this is compulsively drinkable.

It’s easy to see why this has been the hardest-to-acquire of the Picayune wines. Rarely does California rosé achieve such delicious freshness at such an attractive price—but then again, it’s rare to find a California rosé that’s this tightly allocated.