Your Ultimate Rosé Guide: Our Recommendations For Summer Sipping

In celebration of National Rosé Day (the second Saturday in June), we’re proud to present our Ultimate Rosé Guide. We’ve sorted through dozens of different wines, styles, and prices to deliver these recommendations with plenty of flavor and an abundance of value.

In ancient Greece, it was considered cultivated to blend white and red grapes. Naturally light and pleasant, they were the talk of the Mediterranean. Later when the Romans landed in Provence, they used their trade networks to make the wine popular in the Roman world. Even today, Provence is the epicenter of the rosé world.

The quality of rosé had its ups and downs in the ensuing centuries but in the 2000s, the fortunes of rosé began to rise. Today finely crafted rosé wines are available around the globe. Known for its versatility and food-friendly nature, these jewel-colored wines are particularly outstanding in hot weather.

We’ve curated a list of some of our favorite rosé wines. Chill, pop, and enjoy!

Acquesi Brachetto DOC

– This Italian sparkler is fresh, soft, and balanced. Made with 100% Brachetto, the bottle design says “party time.” Red fruit, spices, and a pop of sweetness. SRP: $17.99

Alma Negra Brut Nature –We can’t get enough of this fresh strawberry blend of Malbec and Pinot Noir. Zingy with a dash of lime. We put this in our “people pleaser” category since everyone who has tasted it loves it. Bright and elegant. Argentina. SRP $21.99

Art of Earth Rosé 2019 – An aromatic blend of Grenache (70%) and Syrah (30%) from the warm, Mediterranean-influenced south of France. This wine is organic and made with old vines. A tart accent of strawberries and raspberry. Good acidity. SRP: $13.99

Fête des Fleurs Rosé 2020 – From the diverse and sometimes stoney “galet” soils of Provence, this Rosé is made in the traditional way with characteristics of tart red fruits, brioche, and wild berries. You may not be familiar with all these grapes, but they are key to the world-famous Provence wine style: 40% Grenache, 35% Cinsault, 10% Carignan, 10% Syrah, 3% Mourvèdre, 2% Rolle SRP: $18.99

Hampton Water 2020 --  Famed rocker Jon Bon Jovi and son Jesse Bongiovi have teamed with famed winemaker Gérard Bertrand for this wine from France’s Languedoc region. The blend of Grenache 60%, Cinsault 15%, Mourvèdre 15%, and Syrah 10% rocks with citrus and strawberry. It gets added complexity from oak aging. $19.95.

Maison Marcel Hearts Rosé – The bottle from Provence features a “hearts” design by artist James Goldcrown, making with perfect for a gift or party. Crisp, well-balanced, and slightly off-dry taste profile. White ripe peach, lychee, and elderflower on the inside. Grenache, Merlot, Black Muscat, White Muscat. SRP $18.99

Maison Marcel “Sparkling Hearts” Rosé – The sparking version features delicate notes of white peach and nectarine.  The hearts on the outside will win your heart on the inside. This "Cuvée Provence" showcases a beautiful rose gold color. SRP $24.99

Mosketto Frizzante Rosato 2019 - Mosketto is the combination of two famous grapes, Moscato and Brachetto, both locally grown in Italy’s Piedmont region. This is mildly sweet, naturally bubbly, and low in alcohol (just 6.5%). The wines are made in the same way as the more classic Moscato D’Asti but the fermentation is stopped to retain the sweetness. Summer fun on the patio. SRP: $12.00

STUDIO by Miraval 2020 -- STUDIO by Miraval Rosé is produced with the same know-how as its sister Miraval Rosé. We find this to be an excellent buy. Named for the soon-to-be-reopened music studio at the Château that has been the recording site of artists from Pink Floyd to Sade, STUDIO by Miraval is a blend of Cinsault, Grenache, Rolle, and Tibouren. Sourced from the French Riviera, it is full-bodied, with aromas of citrus, grapefruit, and figs with a lovely mineral structure. SRP $15.99

La Vieille Ferme Sparkling Rosé NV – La Vieille Ferme is one of the top French values to hit our shores. The price and quality are hard to beat and chances are you can easily find the brand on your local shelves.  A versatile and delicious choice, this sparkler is crisp and acidic, thanks to the limestone soils that allow the vines to absorb water. A perfect refresher with a salad on a warm day. SRP $14.99

La Vieille Ferme Rosé 2020 – A blend of Cinsault, Grenache, and Syrah, this rosé offers a bouquet of red fruit, citrus highlights, and floral accents.  It offers everything you could want: fruit, freshness, and beautiful color, and the price is a mere $11.99. This is America’s #1 selling French wine. Perfect for dinner or as an aperitif.

Full disclosure: The wines were received as a marketing sample.

Eight Cool Rosé Picks To Break Your Summer Heat Wave

Sure, you can go to a movie theater or swimming pool to escape the summer heat. We suggest opening one of these bottles instead.

Heat Busting Rosé

We hosted a recent charity wine tasting at our house to support a local school clothing and supplies drive. Our Sip, Sup and Support event couldn’t have come at a hotter time.

Never Miss A Beat – Follow Vino-Sphere On Facebook

The mercury has been in the mid-to-upper 90s. The heat index has been topping 100 degrees and this weekend it might be more than 110 degrees.

It wasn’t hard to select the perfect wines for our event – delightfully chilled rosé. We found a fantastic variety with a bottle to tickle the fancy of any attendee. Overheating is a thing of the past with these recommended bottles from Provence, Rhone Valley, South Africa, Paso Robles and Italy.

Miraval Provence Rosé 2018 (SRP $27.99)

Miraval has caught media attention because of celebrity co-owners Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. It also has won over critics with its sensational wines. Light salmon in color, it is a blend of Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah and Rolle (also known as Vermintino). Perfectly crisp with a touch of cherry flavor.

Keep up with the latest. Follow us on Instagram!

STUDIO by Miraval Rosé 2018 (SRP $ $18.99)

This offering is from the wider Mediterranean IGP region in France. It blends Cinsault, Grenache, Rolle and Tibouren. Tibouren is a black-skinned grape grown mainly in Provence. It lends a greater body and depth to this rosé. It has more fruit and less acidity than the Miraval Provence. Certainly a winner and great value.

La Vieille Ferme Rosé 2018 (SRP $11.99)

This pastel pink rosé hails from the Rhone Valley and is Cinsault, Grenache and Syrah. Notes of citrus prevail over flavors of currant and cherry. This is an excellent choice for an everyday rosé. Fresh and food friendly. Only $11.99? A super deal.

Famille Perrin Côtes du Rhône Reserve Rosé 2018 (SRP $13.99)

This blend of Cinsault, Grenache, Mourvedre, Syrah is made in the saignée method which results in bolder flavors than the direct press method. There is a nice minerality adding to the delicate flavors and balance.

Tablas Creek Patelin de Tablas Rosé 2018 (SRP $27.99)

This Paso Robles rosé was my favorite. Light peach color in the glass, it is a blend of 76% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre and 4% Counoise. Upon the first sip, I proclaimed it “rose-kissed” for the delicate floral flavors. The Grenache is direct-pressed with saignée used on the other two grapes to provide color and texture. Lemon flavors and salinity add to the intrigue.

Tablas Creek Dianthus Rosé 2018 (SRP $33.99)

This electric pink rosé is a blend of three estate-grown varietals, propagated from budwood cuttings from the Château de Beaucastel estate in France’s Rhone Valley. The collaboration with Château de Beaucastel is what makes Tablas Creek a unique and amazing winery. The Dianthus is 51% Mourvedre, 39% Grenache and 10% Counoise. Watermelon, raspberry and spice flavors are delightfully balanced. This was a divine pairing with our shrimp appetizer.

The Wolftrap Rosé 2018 (SRP $11.99)

We pretty much love anything from Stellenbosch in South Africa. The Wolftrap is a blend of 69% Cinsault, 21% Syrah and 10% Grenache. This is a more forceful rosé with red berry flavors leading the way with a touch of citrus and earthiness. A nice complement to our salmon dish.

Tenuta di Fessina Erse Rosé 2018 (SRP $24.99)

Erse was another crowd favorite. Who wouldn’t want to taste a wine with grapes grown in the volcanic soils of Mt. Etna? The grapes are the Italian varieties Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio. The wine is deep raspberry in color. The acidity creates a fresh, vibrant wine with a touch of sour cherry and savory notes. This is a bold rosato and you can taste the volcanic influence. A distinctive and enjoyable bottle indeed.

Full disclosure: These bottles were provided as a marketing sample.

Technorati Tags: rosé,French wine,California wine,wine tasting,Italian wine,South African wine

Six Surefire Picks For Your Springtime Sipping

Dry Creek Vineyard Meritage

When a wine shipment didn’t arrive in time for a scheduled party, we decided to “go rogue.” The results were delightful – six wines we recommend for your springtime sipping.

Two days before our party, I had a sinking feeling. The special shipment of wine that was going to be the centerpiece of our soiree hadn’t arrived. There were no messages from UPS or Fed-X. When I contacted the shipper, she explained that there was an unfortunate mistake. Yikes!

While our tasting was to focus on a very specific wine region, that was now off the table. We had to “go rogue.” I immediately surveyed the available wine and picked a half-dozen bottles certain to scintillate our guests.

2018 Fleurs de Prairie Rosé, Cotes de Provence

Fleurs de Prairie Rosé - better with Wisteria!

Kicking off the party was the 2018 Fleurs de Prairie Rosé. In reviewing background material for the wine, I noticed that the wine is a tribute to the fields of flowers in the Cotes de Provence region. Wisteria flourishes in this part of France as it does in our hometown. We quickly were on an expedition (successful!) to find wisteria for a nice centerpiece.

Fleurs de Prairie is a beautiful rosé, perfect for a spring filled with blooming trees and flowers. It is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Carignan and Mourvedre that tastes light as a feather, with delicate flavors of strawberry with some herbal notes. Just the right amount of acidity makes this a balanced wine, and one perfect to pair with light dishes. The price is about $17.

Fleurs de Prairie is also notable for its Seeds of Beauty campaign, which recognizes and supports women who are dedicated to creating beauty in their community. Seed grants of $2,500 are available.

Inurrieta Mimaò with barbecue meatballs

2018 Ochoa Calendas, Navarra

2016 Inurrieta Mimaò Garnacha, Navarra

Navarra is a northern Spanish wine region known for its beauty and diverse terroir. It is also home of the famous Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) which influenced many winegrowers to use French grape varieties such as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Chardonnay-Viura blend
from Navarra, Spain

The Ochoa Calendas is a blend of 75% Chardonnay and 25% Viura, a well respected white grape. We paired this with pan seared salmon with lemon garlic cream sauce. This is a nice blend, with the Viura adding freshness and nice acidity to balance the classic Chardonnay flavors. It was perfect with our salmon. A bargain at just $12 SRP.

Garnacha from Spain can often take on a rustic flavor, but the Inurrieta Mimaò is a smooth sipper. It is fermented in stainless steel and gets malolactic fermentation to add a plush texture. It is finished with seven months in French oak.

We found this to be a very pleasant surprise with mineral notes and plenty of ripe fruit. This reminded me of the French Grenache style, light, easy and very satisfying. This is also a steal at $15. We’ll be on the lookout for more wines from Navarra.

Territorial Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley

2014 Territorial Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley

Is it possible to have a good party without serving Willamette Valley Pinot Noir? I guess it is theoretically possible, but we didn’t want to take a chance.

This Pinot from Territorial Vineyards is juicy with plenty of savory notes. We served it with rosemary seasoned chicken sausage with grilled apples and gouda. The acidity and tannins are knit together well in a balanced wine with plum and blueberry flavors.

Eighteen months in French oak is the crowning touch for this beautiful bottle. It is well priced at $26.

2016 Dry Creek Vineyard Meritage, Dry Creek Valley

Dry Creek Vineyard Meritage has long been one of our favorite wines. It’s a blend of some of California’s best grapes and this Sonoma wine comes with a much lower price tag than its Napa Valley neighbors. In 1985, Dry Creek Vineyard was the first to produce a wine with “Meritage” on its label.

The 2016 vintage is 65% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, 10% Malbec and is rounded out with Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is aged for 20 months in a combination of French, Hungarian and American oak and so it needs to open up to be fully enjoyed.

The drinker is rewarded with big flavors of black cherry and currant with some spice and leather notes. Just beautiful! This wine is priced at $30 and is also a good pick to cellar for three to five years.

Laughing Stock Blind Trust hides its blend under its capsule

2011 Laughing Stock Blind Trust, Okanagan Valley

We had one more mystery for out “going rogue” tasting party crew. The Blind Trust wine from the British Columbia winery Laughing Stock doesn’t advertise its blending grapes. When I purchased the wine it was with  blind trust because we love wines from Okanagan Valley. The blend isn’t revealed until the bottle is opened and the capsule pulled away.

The Blind Trust was justified. This is a great wine with a blend of 47% Merlot, 31% Malbec, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc and 4% Syrah for good measure. This wine has swirling minerality with beautiful herbal notes to give this a unique character. Blueberry and black cherry lead the way. 

Wines from Okanagan are outstanding, but few reach the US, unfortunately. The current vintage of Blind Trust is sold out (we’re not surprised!) so we recommend investing in the 2016 Portfolio, a nice Bordeaux style blend.

You don’t need our permission to “go rogue.” Just pick up a bottle or three and uncork!

Full disclosure: Some of this wine was provided as a marketing sample.

AIX 2017 Rosé, Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence

Yes, it’s that time again! As the thermometer starts to climb, you need to chill. There is no better way than with a glass of crisp rosé from France.

Provence Rules Rosé

Other wine regions make pretty good juice, but let’s admit it. Provence makes the perfect rosé.

Provence prides itself on being the birthplace of all French wines. Winemaking there dates back to 600 BC. Rosé accounts for 88% of all wine produced in Provence.

Pink Power

We declared Summer 2017 as the Summer of Rosé, but really rosé is a wine to be enjoyed year-round. In the cold of winter it amounts to bottled sunshine. Just about any month, rosé is a food friendly choice for most of your lighter meals.

Check out our reports on more than 100 wineries

Another appeal of rosé is visual. The subtle jewel tones of the wine enchant the eye before the first sip.

So, you get it. We really like rosé! The selection and quality of rosé has never been better. Our most recent bottle was the AIX, the top blend of Maison Saint Aix.

Wine And Flower Pairing

There are two main methods of producing rosé. In the saignée method, a small amount of juice is run off during the process of making red wine. This has the effect of making the red wine more concentrated. The runoff is used to make rosé. In direct press, grapes are grown especially for rosé and are crushed and pressed at the same time. Short contact with the skin results in the light pink or coppery color.

Never Miss A Beat – Follow Vino-Sphere On Facebook

AIX uses both techniques. Thirty percent of the wine is saignée and the other 70% is direct press, the method preferred by purists. AIX is a blend of 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 20% Cinsault. The grapes are farmed organically.

While we were driving around our neighborhood recently I was impressed by the beauty of wisteria. This is a vine with beautiful purple colored leaves that hang in bunches, like grapes. Some of these vines climb 60 feet or more up trees. Green Dragon made me drive around until she could grab a good supply for a flower arrangement.

I mention this, in the midst of my knowledge download on rosé, to explain that this is the reason I uncorked the AIX rosé. It was the perfect visual pairing with our wisteria!

The pale pink color of AIX is entrancing. The wine delivers in proper Provence fashion, striking a great balance between delicacy and ample flavor. It has some nice red fruit flavor, perhaps amplified by the saignée, joined by touches of citrus. Properly chilled (about 50⁰ F), this is one refreshing glass of goodness.

You’ll be able to find this bottle for about $18 to $20, which is a nice price. The time is right to rock the rosé!

Rosé From Provence: Our Antidote To The Bomb Cyclone

Yes, You Can Have Rosé In Winter!

Like many people, we have been “hunkering down” during the intense weather of the the Bomb Cyclone, which has unleashed bitter cold and swirling winds along the US east coast and the southeast. Granted, we are in North Carolina, so our “intense” weather had daytime highs in the 20s and 30s. That’s nothing compared to the wind chill on New Hampshire’s Mount Washington, which was recorded at minus 90 degrees, or the bone chilling cold across the Great Lakes region.

In much warmer and giddy times, we dubbed last summer as the Summer of Rosé, due to the amazing variety and superb quality of domestic and international rosé wines. In one of my favorite photos of the last several months, I snapped a botle of J.L. Quinson 2016 Côtes de Provence rosé on our back patio. This wasn’t last week as you may have guessed, but rather an early Indian Summer evening. It’s a warming image that melts the frost that surrounds us.

Never Miss A Beat – Follow Vino-Sphere On Facebook

J.L. Quinson is one of France’s largest wineries. Eighty-eight percent of wine produced in Provence is rosé, and for that we are grateful.

This rosé is a blend of Grenache and Cinsault. It offers notes of orange zest and strawberry. Like a lot of very good rosé, it’s not very expensive – less than $10.

Our point? Be counterintuitive. Instead of a glass of sturdy Cabernet, uncork a memory of soft spring breezes with some rosé. Maybe positive thinking will bring back the warm weather.

Rosé Summer Rolls On With Two French Mediterranean Winners

We’ve declared this the Rosé Summer. Pink is everywhere you look. For us in the Triangle area of North Carolina, there has been some sweltering humidity. What’s a person to do? Try uncorking one of these rosé blends.

Power Of The Chiller

Rosé is a pink wine made from red wine grapes. Red wine wouldn’t be red if not for extended contact with the grape skins, which provide anthocyanins – the compound which gives grapes color. When it comes to drinking wine, that may be TMI (too much information)!

The art of rosé is controlling the process to result in the delightful salmon, coral or rose colors. The visual treat is a boost to the spirits on a hot day as much as the crisp refreshing wine.

We encourage you to chill it down and then get down, so to speak, with a glass of rosé. It’s a perfect pairing wine for a variety of foods.

Say Cinsault – Say What?

We recently tried a pair of rosé wines from France, the Mimi en Provence Grand Reserve, Côtes de Provence and the Gérard Bertrand Cote des Roses, Languedoc Sud de France. Both are 2016 vintages and both can be found in the $12-$15 price range.

This pair also shares the same trio of grapes in their blend: Cinsault, Grenache and Syrah – popular grapes in the south of France. The Mimi lists the grapes in the order above, while the Cotes des Roses leads with the Grenache in the greater quantity followed by Cinsault. Cinsault, is pronounced SAHN-soh, and can also be spelled Cinsaut. Cinsault can withstand very high heat, and so it is widely grown in the hotter areas of France, like Languedoc. It is typically blended to tone down its naturally high acidity. We consider this a playful blend of grapes, that well represents the Mediterranean region from which they originate.

A Rosé By Any Other Name

Two great entrée choices for rosé are pork and salmon. We tried them both with excellent results. We paired the Mimi with cedar plank rosemary salmon served with broccoli and baked potatoes.

The Mimi, which we picked up at Cellar 55, is a light salmon in color – how fitting! The bouquet is bright and floral. On the palate, there is a taste of Granny Smith apples and citrus. It is fresh and crisp. It was a seamless match with our salmon and we continued to enjoy it on into the evening.

The Gérard Bertrand is pale pink in the glass. On the nose there are whiffs of red fruit. The Cote des Roses was poured with panko-coated pork chops grilled with apples and served with broiled vegetables and couscous. The grapes for this vino are grown in a warm, windy climate and the altitude and cooling sea breezes allow the grapes to retain their freshness. We tasted honeysuckle and flavor threads of candied citrus.

I grabbed the Gérard Bertrand for dinner when I saw the Green Dragon arranging some pink roses on the dining table. The Cote des Roses bottle is embellished with a pink rose on the neck. The bottle was created by a young designer from the Ecole Boulle. It features a rose molded into the bottom of the bottle. You can turn the bottle upside down and present it like a rose, I guess.

Both the bottles are closed with glass stoppers, adding to the artistic appeal. These are crisp, refreshing food-friendly choices for your warm weather refreshment. Let the Rosé Summer roll on!

Rosé Overrules Summertime Heat: New Favorites From France and Spain

This might be the Rosé Summer. Store shelves are bursting with pink concoctions. In our opinion, the quality of rosé has never been better.

It’s Rosé Weather

We really didn’t need another sign, but there it was. Record-breaking heat in Ohio pushed the thermometer to 96 degrees. If you don’t want to be confined to the indoors, there is only one proper solution: chilled rosé. Through a recent Wine Studio education program we were able to taste a quartet of rosé offerings. We added a fifth – just because it’s what we do!

Domaine Paul Mas has about 1,500 acres in France’s Languedoc region in the south of France. Mas has agreements with other vineyards totaling about twice that amount in acreage. Languedoc, hugged by the Mediterranean to the south and mountains to the north, is known for its diverse terrain. Domaine Mas has access to 40 different grape varieties.

We sampled a rosé trio from two Domaine Mas Brands. We started our journey with the 2016 Arrogant Frog Rosé paired with turkey tenderloin and cranberry reduction, maple glazed sweet potatoes and asparagus. One of the joys of rosé is that it pairs with a vast array of entrees. An exception would be a heavy steak – that’s Cabernet territory.

Arrogant Frog delivers a lot of arrogance for only $10 SRP. It is 100% Syrah and is rich with cherry and floral flavors. Like the other Domaine Mas rosé we sampled, it has a screw closure – that’s no problem with us. This is a wine intended to be consumed while young.

Attesting to the range of Domaine Mas is the Côté Mas Crémant de Limoux Rosé Brut NV St. Hilaire. Limoux is know for sparkling wine and this crémant is a fun blend of 70% Chardonnay, 20% Chenin and 10% Pinot Noir.

Bubbly rosé is a double treat. This is elegant and playful. The price is also easy to swallow at $16. The stream of bubbles was long-lived, but not very vigorous.

Our Domaine Mas trio wrapped up with the 2016 Coté Mas Rosé Aurore, which has a Sud de France appellation. It is priced at $11, but is in a liter bottle – giving you a third more than the 750 ML standard bottle. It is made with 50% Grenache Noir, 30% Cinsault and 20% Syrah. These are typical Mediterranean varieties. The bottle aims to embody the “rural luxury” motto of Paul Mas. I found this to be more flavorful than the Arrogant Frog – but my wife favored the Frog. The packaging gives you a bit more vino but is sufficiently cool that it never feels like “jug wine.”

We continued with our tour of France with a rosé from Cotés de Provence. Eighty-eight percent of the wine produced in Provence is rosé – so this region is always a good option for you. Our pick was the 2016 Sables d’Azur. It also is a blend of Cinsault, Grenache and Syrah. It is a delightful light peach color and is spritely on the palate.

Our tour of rosé crossed the border into neighboring Spain, with Hacienda de Arinzano Rosé 2016 from Arinzano. We had a chance to sample some knockout reds from Arinzano.
This rosé was most interesting since it is 100% Tempranillo.
From the get-go, this wine was different from the others we had sampled. This rosado (as the Spanish call it) was a deep pink-red in the glass. On the palate the flavors were elevated and more intense than the French rosé.

Arinzano has been designated a Pago, which is the highest classification in the Spanish wine system. Pago is a term reserved for the very best vineyards, and so far there are only 14 of them in all of Spain.

The Arinzano rosé delivered superb freshness, acidity and rich flavors. This would be a good pick for a red wine lover who is unsure about trying rosé. At $20, it’s another great value.

There you have it – a quintet of wines to equip your summer survival kit. One final suggestion. Your rosé should be chilled sufficiently to provide refreshment, but be warm enough to allow the flavors to shine. A good way to do this is to take your bottles out of the refrigerator to sit for about five minutes before serving.