16 rosé wines to pop open anytime
It seems almost unfair to rosé to start thinking about it, and talking about it, and looking for it when spring comes around. Then again, how many of us think about turkey and stuffiffing outside of November? Or corned beef and cabbage outside of March? No one is stopping you from planning those meals on any day of the year, calendar be damned. Yet you don’t. At least most of you don’t.
Did my college roommates and I cook up an entire traditional Thanksgiving dinner one spring semester? Sure we did.
That full feast, even just the thought of it before we went shopping for the ingredients, brought about a wave of hope and anticipation that I can still recall. That’s the kind of power spring has.
Pink fifits this time of year perfectly — pink and green. (Thing is, I generally try to avoid drinking anything that is green.) I encourage people to drink rosé all year long, to not confifine their consumption only to spring and summer. On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with getting your rosé run started when the Northern Hemisphere blinks itself awake in the spring. Gotta start somewhere. The longest journey begins with a single sip.
With lower amounts of alcohol and tannin, high acidity and loads of bright fruit, it is hard to go wrong with a few bottles of nice rosé on hand. If the imbibers in your life have eyes for aesthetics, they will also appreciate the beauty that rosé brings to your table. They’re not all dusty pink and blushing, as you know; some of them are closer to candy apple red. But they are all fun. Below are notes from a recent tasting of rosés from around the world. They are listed in ascending order according to price.
2016 Faisao Vinho Verde Rosé. With strawberry, raspberry, orange blossom, lively acidity and a refreshing spritz, this Portuguese wine had a clean, crisp fifinish and a friendly 10.5 percent alco- hol. $8
2016 Mont Gravet Rosé. From the South of France, this 100 percent cinsault was flfloral with raspberry, pear, lime and citrus, plus a lingering fifinish, and 12 percent alcohol. $9
2016 Cline Family Cellars Ancient Vines Mourvedre Rosé. Pink grapefruit aromas jumped from this glass, and led to peach, cherry and zippy acidity. From California’s Contra Costa County. $13
2016 Mulderbosch Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé. Savory herbs and minerality segued into flfloral notes, plus raspberry and other red fruits. From the Coastal Region of South Africa. 13 2016 S. Pratsch Rosé. This organic Austrian wine from zweigelt grapes opened with strawberries, peach, anise and zingy acidity, and then came full circle for a long-lingering strawberry fifinish. $13
2016 Piazza del Castello. From Italy’s Tuscany region and made of 100 percent sangiovese, this wine offffffffffffered peach, kiwi, clean tropical fruits and a bright, crisp fifinish. $14
2016 Steele Cabernet Franc Rosé. Intensely aromatic and packed with ripe raspberry, strawberry and citrus, this wine from Lake County, Calif., had a vibrant electric-red hue, like diluted Campari. $15
2016 Feudo Maccari Rosé. Made of 100 percent nero d’avola grapes, this wine from Sicily offffered strawberry, cherry, lime, peach and 12 percent alcohol. $16
2016 Leyda Rosé. Black cherry, strawberry, spice, zingy acidity and a long fifinish sum up this 100 percent pinot noir from Chile’s Leyda Valley, 4 miles from the Pacifific Ocean. $16
2016 Tournon Mathilda. Earthy notes join bright, clean raspberry and cranberry in this crisp, refreshing, easy-to-drink pale grenache with spice on the fifinish. Made in Australia by French winemaker Michel Chapoutier. $16
2016 Castello di Bossi Rosato. This 70 percent sangiovese/30 percent cabernet sauvignon Tuscan blend offffffffffffered mouthwatering red fruits, a touch of salinity, bright acidity and a formidable 13.5 percent alcohol. $18
2016 Figuiere Magali. Peach, lime, strawberry, orange zest, minerality and tangy acidity sum up this blend of syrah, cabernet sauvignon, grenache and cin- sault from France’s Cotes de Provence. 18
2016 Gamble Family Vineyards Rosé. Luscious strawberry, apple, anise and spice all mingled in this lip-smacking, long- fifinishing Napa Valley blend of mostly cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. $20
2016 Sidebar Rosé. This 100 percent syrah from Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley offffered an intriguing mix of hay, fennel, flfloral notes, dried cherries, stone fruits and zingy acidity. 21
2016 Donelan Rosé. Strawberry, cherry, anise, bright acidity and a clean, crisp fifinish characterized this Sonoma County blend of grenache, syrah, mourvedre and pinot noir, plus 13.8 percent alcohol. 25
2016 Inman Family Endless Crush Rosé of Pinot Noir. With flfloral and herbal notes, plus strawberry, watermelon and anise, this Russian River Valley beauty was as mouth-watering as it was refreshing. $35