Pick Of The Pink, A Few Rosés Are Very Good Options

The KensWineGuide.com Tasting Panel recently tried some Rosé wines to see if Rosé is  the new summer wine of choice.  Will Rosé ultimately become more popular than Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Beaujolais, or expensive Pinot Noir?  Our conclusion is that Rosé is a nice option if folks want to try something different, but we think most people will stick to their favorite wines.  On the whole, we found many of the Rosés we tasted to be Good, but only a couple to be Very Good.  In our blind tasting, we tried 12 Rosés.  We recommended 2 of them as Very Good.  We also recommended 4 others with an honorable mention of Good+, which means we scored them above 86 points but not quite 87 points. 

What wines scored Very Good and why? The winner was the 2007 Fritz Rosé $16.  We have recommended this wine two vintages in a row.  This year we scored this wine an 87.25.  It is made from a variety of grapes.  The blend is 39% Zinfandel, 33% Syrah, 16% Pinot Noir, and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon.  This magical blend from the Dry Creek Valley offers predominately peach flavors, but nectarine and grapefruit were noted as well.  We think you will really like this wine for your next pool party.  There are only 206 cases of this gem so going direct to the winery might be your best bet. Our next favorite Rosé came from Susana Balbo.  Her 2007 “Crios Rosé of Malbec” for $12 scored an 87.16.  This Rosé offering from Mendoza, Argentina is made from 100% Malbec.  This light to medium bodied wine is smooth, crisp, and nicely balanced.  The flavor profile is light strawberry, with a hint of cranberry and a touch of sweetness.  The other good news is they also made a lot of this tasty value wine.  They made 12,000 cases.  Our honorable mention wines are as follows:

#3 2007 De Meye Wines Rosé “ShirazRosé”(Stellenbosch, South Africa) $12 (86.75)

#4 2007 DarienRosé “Rosado”(100% Tempranillo) (Rioja, Spain) $13 (86.67)

#5 2007 Simi Winery Rosé “Roseto”(Sh/Vio)(Sonoma County, CA) $15 (86.42)

#6 2007 Ventana Vineyards Rosé “Dry Rosado”(Gren/Sy) (Arroyo Seco, CA) $18 (86.42)

Before we closed the book on Rosés, we had a few wines that came in after the official tasting that we tasted non-blind.  These wines all scored Very Good or Good+ so we thought you might appreciate a couple more options.  The first option was Carol Shelton's 2007 “Rendezvous Ros锝 $?? from Mendocino County, CA.  I found this Very Good, light bodied wine to be dry, round, and the most European in style of all the Rosés we tried recently.  It reminded me of the classic Rosés we get from Provence.  The flavors I tasted were raspberry like with dried cranberry notes.  I would suggest that you enjoy it with a burger on the deck this summer. 

The second one we would recommend is Mulderbosch's 2007 “Rosé of Cabernet” $12.  This Very Good wine is dry, round, crisp, with dusty strawberry like flavors.  It is a nice Rosé option for Red Wine lovers. 

The third option is the 2007 Domaine Houchart Rosé $10 from “Cotes de Provence”.  We found this bright pink Good+ wine to have tasty berry flavors with notes of minerality.  This refreshing wine would be nice by the pool and with oysters or bacon wrapped scallops.  This is the second year in a row we have recommended this value priced Rosé.

 The last option is an interesting Rosé like the sparkling wine option that I came across from Banfi Cellars.  This option is called the 2007 “Rosa Regale” from Castello Banfi $20.  This wine from the Piedmont is made from 100% Brachetto d’Acqui.  What?…I never heard of it either, but what I can tell you is that it is quite tasty.  We recent attended a wine tasting party, and I brought this fun wine with us. It was a hit! It is a cranberry colored wine, with fine bubbles, and it opened with a pleasant light cranberry bouquet with a touch of spice. On the palate, this wine is round, lightly sweet, has a touch of fizz, with light raspberry like flavors. It is really tasty and a perfect aperitif. 

Overall, the general consensus was that most panel members would prefer a Chardonnay, a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, or their favorite mid level wine over the Good Rosé wines.  However, the Very Good Rosé options would be a nice change, and provide fun options to share with friends over the hot summer months.  Enjoy – Ken