I love pink wine… not the cloying Koolaid of my high school wine cooler days, but the dry, strawberry lip-smackers of years past. But I haven’t found any this year. I’ve tasted probably 15 rosés this season and none have made it to the short list. Too expensive (should be less than $12 or so), too sweet or no flavor at all. And it doesn’t seem to matter where it’s from (France, California, Spain), but price frequently votes it off the island. I’m kinda depressed… many a hot summer evening is quenched with the soft pinkness of rosés that I can guzzle like my A/C bill isn’t due.
And what a shame. Rosé is just getting its stride, in the final stretch of being almost… almost… embraced by the everyday consumer. Or maybe that’s just in my head since you’d think wineries would be attuned to same inklings I’m sensing and give the people what they want.
What do you think? Have you had any good rosés this year? How about any under $12? This is a throw down challenge folks. I’ll buy ’em if you suggest ’em in the comments.
I usually go rosé crazy in the spring/summer, but I’m way behind this year. However, I’ve tried two great ones: the Zeepaard pink from Western Australia and the Nationale 7 from southern France. The latter is $20 but is a real delight.
Here’s my recent rosé reviews with links to the two wines I mentioned.
Hello Taylor,
I’ve had some nice rosés lately. It’s the season for barbecues and rosé wines here in France. I was invited to a barbecue at a friend’s house and I took two bottles with me…a 2006 Clairet that I bought last year when Katy and I were there, and a 2009 Tavel that I picked up at the supermarket for about 5.50 €. I don’t remember how much the Clairet was…less than 12 € for sure. They were both nice…quite different from one another – but I can’t give you a better review than that (I was drinking at the time). They went well with the gazpacho, which was followed by fresh crabs my friend had caught that morning while free-diving, which was then followed by grilled sausages.
This past week I’ve had two nice rosés from Provence – both 2009s…at lunch on a workday. Yeah – life can be hard sometimes…
They were both light pink, nicely chilled, crisp and dry, but with a pleasant, fruity flavor and aroma.