Summer’s coming, the weather is heating up, and it’s time for “Rosé All Day.” Our Wine Review Council took the opportunity to explore a variety of colorful rosés to enjoy in the coming months.
We take our tastings seriously as you can see from the cell phones, papers, and pens on the table and the concentrated look on the face of one of our tasters.
Just look at the variety of shades of the rosés we sampled. They ranged in color from a couple being light peach colored to a light pink and even a much deeper pink color. We also had a Prosecco in the group. They were
all dry and at a great price point—perfect for those hot days coming our way.
What a fun label the 2020 Côte Mas Rosé Aurore ($10) from the Languedoc region of France has with its playful scene of a picnic from the past. This wine is part of the Taub Family Wine Selections. The grapes used to make this rosé
were mostly Grenache and Cinsault. The climate is warm and dry where these grapes are grown. This wine had a lovely nose of strawberry and cherry as well as floral. It had a nice acidity to it and a drier flavor on the palate with lots of ripe fruits. We paired it with a Pistou, a sauce from the South of France and similar to pesto with lots of garlic. We also had some smoked salmon and aged Gouda that balanced the fruits of the wine. The shrimp cocktail worked, also.
The next wine of the day was the 2020 Planeta Rosé ($12). We really enjoyed the floral nose of this wine and its minerality that added to the
complexity of the fruit of the wine. This delicately colored—almost apricot and described as the color of a sunset—wine is composed of 50% Nero d’Avola and 50% Syrah and comes from Sicily. We enjoyed the Pastel de Guayaba (Guava Strudel with Cheese) pastry with the wine because the wine is dry and the sweetness of the guava paired beautifully with it.
Our third wine was the 2020 Jean-Luc Colombo Cape Bleue Rosé ($12), a wine with a salmon color consisting of 67% Syrah and 33% Mourvédre and grown in the hills above the bay of Marseille (the
area next to Provence.) I noticed a big nose on this wine that draws you in to the tastes of peach and raspberry as well as watermelon. The wine had a long finish and roundness to it. Our pairing was a Salad Nicoise, a French salad of tuna, haricot verts, and eggs on a lettuce base. It felt like summer was here.
Next was the 2020 Bertani Bertarosé ($16) of 75% Molinara grapes and 25% Merlot. An interesting fact about the winemaking process is that the two varieties are vinified separately where the Molinara grape is fermented on the skin and the Merlot is an off-the-skins fermentation to keep the color as the winemaker wants it. The Molinara grape can have a long skin contact period and still create
a pink color. Molinara grapes are grown almost exclusively in the Veneto region of Italy and are used to add acidity to a blend. They are often used when making an Amarone wine. The Molinara grape pairs well with pasta, and the creamy Carbonara with smoke house bacon was a nice balance to the wine’s acidity.
This wine had a healthy body to it and some tanginess to go with the acidity. We tasted red currants, plums, and berries as well as a floral aroma.
Our fifth rosé was a Prosecco. It was the 2019 Valdo Marca Oro Prosecco DOC Rosé Brut ($15) from the Veneto region of Italy and composed of 90% Glera and 10% Pinot Noir. The name of the
grape, Glera, is synonymous with Prosecco where this grape has come from within the Prosecco DOC area. The color of this Prosecco is a soft pink hue and has a persistent perlage (a word meaning pearl-like bubbles used by Italians to describe Prosecco bubbles.) This lovely Prosecco has a nose of flowers and tastes of pear and apples. It makes a great aperitif but paired well with the individual Shrimp Cocktails.
Last, but not least, was the 2020 Lorenzi Estate M Rosé ($45) grown in the Temecula, California, valley. Lorenzi is a master at winemaking, and that mastery was displayed in his rosé. A deep pink color comes from the Malbec grape from which it was made.
This wine tastes of strawberries and pineapple and yet has a long and dry finish. We paired it with the baked Feta and sautéed olives, a perfect pairing.
As you think about upcoming cool summer salads and seafood as well as some satisfying charcuteries, these rosés should be on your mind as the perfect summer sippers.
*As is common in this industry, these wines were comped for us to taste, and we were delighted to learn of how reasonable some great rosés can be. They were not sweet and fit perfectly for the upcoming weather.
