# Urchin: sparkling rosé of Pinot Noir, given time By Dan Person, winemaker and co-founder at Carboniste. Published 2026-10-09. Canonical page: https://carboniste.com/blog/the-sea-urchin-sparkling-rose ![A bottle of 2024 Carboniste Urchin sparkling rosé of Pinot Noir on a marble restaurant table, with a couple sitting across from each other, glasses of pink sparkling wine and a salmon mousse cornet](https://carboniste.com/images/blog/p12-urchin-dinner-2400.webp) **The short answer:** most pink sparkling wine is made to be young, bright and simple. Our Urchin is a sparkling rosé of Pinot Noir that we let mature in barrel before it ever gets its bubbles, and that gives it depth you don't usually find in a rosé. "It's what rosé really can be," says winemaker and co-founder Dan Person, "if it's given enough time and attention and love." ## Where it comes from The 2024 Urchin is 92% Pinot Noir and 8% Chardonnay, all from cool-climate vineyards: Vista Verde Vineyard in San Benito County, the Santa Cruz Mountains, and, new this vintage, Carriger Vineyard in Sonoma County. "The 2023 was just the San Benito and Santa Cruz," Dan says. "In '24 we added the Sonoma fruit." 2024 was our first year working with Carriger. ## The rosebud We sometimes call the Urchin "the rosebud," a wine that rewards patience. Dan didn't plan it that way. "It was a wine that initially I was wanting to be a relatively quick turnaround wine, like the Albariño," he says. The Octopus, our sparkling Albariño, is at its best young. Pinot Noir isn't. "Pinot Noir is kind of slow to develop," Dan says. "The more I worked with the rosé, the more I realized that it's just much better once we allow it to age properly in the cellar." So we gave it time: - **In barrel.** The young wine ferments with native yeast in barrel and rests there for about nine months, with no added sulfur until bottling. "We're not sulfuring early, we're sulfuring late," Dan says, which lets the wine develop and mature. - **With older wine.** About 10% of the blend is older wine, "aged and fermented the same way, in barrel, native yeast, native malolactic, like part of our Reserve program," Dan says. "Blending that into a young rosé that was in barrel for about nine months gives it a nice sort of depth and complexity." - **In the bottle.** Then comes the second fermentation and a long rest on the yeast before we disgorge it by hand and seal it with a red crown cap. The aging is done by the time we release it. "I don't necessarily recommend aging it in bottle after we've disgorged it," Dan says. "It ages fine, but really the aging has been done once we release it." ## Not your typical pink sparkling wine "A typical rosé is all about sort of youthful flash and bright red fruits," Dan says. The Urchin still has red fruit, with aromas of wild strawberry, guava and rose petal, but barrel time takes it further. "We're allowing the wine to develop a bit and to develop its sort of secondary maturity of flavor." His summary: it's "much more than a simple rosé," a wine that's "developed," with "richness and complexity and depth." ## Why a sea urchin? "Some of the best food in the world is seafood," Dan says, "and really fresh, well-prepared uni is a special delicacy. And I think it goes well with rosé." Uni is the Japanese name for sea urchin, and it's still his first pairing for the wine. ## What to eat with it - **Uni,** as fresh as you can find it. - **Salmon mousse cornets,** a classic canapé: a crisp little cone filled with silky smoked salmon mousse. The bubbles cut the richness, and the Urchin's red fruit picks up the salmon. ## When to open one The Urchin is a wine for a slow evening: a date night at your favorite neighborhood restaurant, candles lit, nobody in a hurry. Serve it between fridge and cellar temperature, so take it out of the fridge and let it warm a little in the glass as the night goes on. [Meet the Urchin](/products/urchin-rose-sparkling) ## Quick answers **What is a sparkling rosé of Pinot Noir?** A pink sparkling wine made from Pinot Noir. We press the whole clusters gently, so the juice picks up just a blush of color from the red skins. **Is sparkling rosé sweet?** Not ours. The Urchin gets only a light dosage at disgorging, so it's dry. **What food goes with sparkling rosé?** Seafood, especially uni; smoked salmon; and rich canapés. The bubbles and acidity cut through richness. **Should I age sparkling rosé?** The Urchin is aged before release, in barrel and in bottle, so it's ready to drink when you buy it. --- Wines in this post: [Urchin Sparkling Rosé](https://carboniste.com/products/urchin-rose-sparkling)