The Wine Curmudgeon appreciates his readers and visitors more than they will ever know. Without you, I’d have to get a real job, where I would probably not be allowed to drink wine.
Having said that, I must bring up one of your few failings: You don’t much rose. No rose review has ever been a top 10 annual post, and they barely crack the top 50.
I especially pondered that question preparing for this post, the blog’s fifth annual rose extravaganza. And I can’t come up with a good reason. Rose is cheap. It’s better made than ever before. It’s food friendly. You can put an ice cube in it. What more do you need from a wine?
After the jump, the basics about roses and this year’s recommendations:
Rose is not sweet, which may be what confuses so many wine drinkers (though, given the surge in popularity in sweet wine, that may not be the reason, either). Whatever the case, know that roses are just as dry as dry reds and whites. They don’t have red wine’s tannins or white wine’s acid, but that’s no reason not to drink them, is it?
Check out the blog’s rose primer, which talks about styles, how the wine gets its pink color, and the like. Consider the following roses when it’s time to buy, and don’t forget the blog’s rose category:
• Santi Bardolino Chiaretto Infinito 2011 ($12, sample): One of the best roses of the young season. This Italian wine has a little red fruit and not much else, which puts it firmly in the European rose tradition.
• Yalumba Sangiovese Y Series Rosé 2011 ($10, purchased): Somehow, this Australian wine tastes of mangos and lemons, and is just 11 1/2 percent alcohol. As close to a perfect New World rose as you're going to find. Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2013 $10 Hall of Fame.
• Robert Hall Rose de Robles 2010 ($12, purchased): Rich and luscious, with juicy cherry and strawberry fruit. But it's not sweet and even has some minerality on the finish. Would all California roses were this well made.
• Marqués de Cáceras Rosado 2011 ($10, purchased): This Spanish grocery store wine rarely lets me down. It's always fresh and clean, with some garnacha-driven red fruit and a bit of stoniness.
• Boxwood Estate Rose 2011 ($14, sample): A stunning wine from one of Virginia's top producers but more European in style. Look for herb flavors (thyme?) mixed with the strawberry fruit. Availability may be limited.
More about Memorial Day and rose:
• Memorial Day and rose, 2011
• Memorial Day and rose, 2010
• Wine review: Falesco Vitiano Rosato 2010
• Wine of the week: Massamier La Mignarde Cuvee des Oliviers 2010
Photo courtesy winjohn of the United Kingdom, via stock, using a Creative Commons license
LOVE DRY ROSÉ/ROSADO/ROSATO. Mostly drinking French/Italian/Spanish. My cellar is filling up already. Just bought 2 more cases today. I love being in the wholesale wine business. Averaging 2-4 bottles per week. Should increase as does the summer heat.
Posted by: Phil Ward | May 25, 2012 at 12:13 PM
Why no french examples??
Posted by: Bob N | May 25, 2012 at 01:02 PM
Bob N., the Wednesday wine of the week was a French rose.
Posted by: Jeff Siegel | May 25, 2012 at 01:50 PM
Anyone tasted rose from Montenegro?
Posted by: Milos Radulovic | June 28, 2012 at 02:07 AM