Inexpensive rosés fit for a backyard hangout

The price of rosé has been creeping up in recent years. But you can still find fabulous bottles that are dry, pale and inexpensive. You just need to know which bottle to buy. So here are five to snap up — and one to avoid — starting with a European charmer.

Portugal’s Bacalhôa winery — pronounced baca-LOW-ah — makes a marvellous little rosé that packs serious value for money. And it’s no longer just a seasonal release at the LCBO. It’s available all year around now, as of January. So you can get a little attached and make it your new house wine if you like.

This gem is the 2019 JP Bacalhôa Azeitao Syrah Rosé from the Peninsula de Setubal in Portugal (LCBO 404566 $8.80). It shines pale peach with luminous inflections. The scent is allusive and sheer, suggesting cool ocean breezes with a whisper of fruit. Then the wine sweeps in, calling to mind white cherries and apricot, sea salt, a touch of rose and struck steel. While the flavours flit to and fro creating quiet complexity, the texture is glasslike and seamless — a testament to quality.

Not surprising the Bacalhôa’s JP label is the bestselling wine brand in Portugal. Score: 94

From the South of France comes the 2020 L’Orangeraie Pays d’Oc (LCBO 279661 $11.90). Bone dry and understated, yet quite complex, this wine unfurls with delicate orange zest, strawberry, nougat and grapefruit pith with a subtle salinity somewhere. The finish is attractively bitter and lingers for ages. This blend of Syrah, Merlot, Grenache and Cinsault tastes quite sophisticated for the price. Score: 93

If you like a kiss of sweetness in your rosé, South Africa’s 2020 The Beachhouse Rosé

(LCBO 164343 $11.95) is another high-scoring, low-priced gem. Even the bottle puts you in a summery state of mind with its upscale, vacay-inspired name and sand-textured label featuring a flash of foil in the form of a starfish.

This rosé shimmers a pretty salmon hue and exudes gentle aromas of chargrilled red plums and seaspray before rushing in with a relatively fruit-forward attack. Glossy flavours of juicy cherries and Turkish delight fade back to a smoky-plummy finish. This wine is off-dry, but the touch of sweetness is balanced by bright, mouth-watering acidity that keeps the wine crisp and refreshing. Score: 92

Also from South Africa comes a de-alcoholized rosé worth every cent called NV Darling Cellars De-Alcoholised Rosé (LCBO 18948 $11). Usually, wine without the alcohol lacks spirit, literally and figuratively. But this blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Grenache offers balance, complexity and fruit purity. All of these things can be compromised with dealcoholized wine.

In the glass, this rosé gleams a pale, sunset orange. It suggests sliced strawberries and cantaloupe on the nose, then speeds in with citric zeal laced with red berries, pastry and smokystony undertones. The flavour is fruit-driven, forward and vivacious. And it lingers. Just lovely. Score: 90

Spain’s 2020 Toro Bravo Shiraz Garnacha Rosado DO

from Manchuela (LCBO 14145 $8.45), which shines the colour of peach satin, is definitely a delight for the price. On the nose, ruby grapefruit and ripe raspberry draw you toward a bracing attack that tastes invigorating, lively. A gust of flavour glides in hinting at apricot and red currant before tapering to a long grapefruit finish. This dry quencher is perfect in the heat. Score: 93

So those are some stellar buys. But one new wine at the LCBO that appears inviting but should be avoided is the new 1.5L bag of NV Calvet Rosé South of France (LCBO 674149 $19.70). The packaging is terrific with the handle on top and built-in spout. But the sample I tasted was one-dimensional — no interesting complexity — and sadly quite out of balance with the alcohol showing through the fruit. When that happens, each sip ends with a little alcoholic burn in the back of the throat, which is never pleasant.

So there are some lovely bottles to pour in good company and one to avoid. Finally, company can be a thing again — slowly but surely.

Carolyn Evans Hammond is a Toronto-based wine writer and a freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Wineries occasionally sponsor segments on her YouTube series yet they have no role in the selection of the wines she chooses to review or her opinions of those wines. Reach her via email: carolyn@carolynevanshammond.com