Goth Rosé

Pink is the highest level of goth. If you can make pink goth, you have been granted—no wait, goth powers aren’t granted any more than DOCGs are passed out. If you can make pink goth, you were born with a power. Ergo rosé is the gothest of all. But some rosés will bring you to the dark side better than others. Barely pink, Provençal rosés (Bandol excepted) can bugger off. We want them deep and dark. I think I’ve mentioned (in a column about goth wines) my first wine memories were pink Franzia sipped while sitting in a giant coffin/couch. Which if you aren’t in the mood for rosé, but want to marinate in gloom, you can find here . That was like goth rosé training wheels. Too light in hue to include here. Actually, I wouldn’t include Franzia anywhere but in my memories. Oh! And the one goth rosé I didn’t profile here is cerasuolo . Which sometimes one imagines is a light red and sometimes a dark rosé. Seek it out, and you make the call. And now, a smattering of deep pink wines to delight your craven soul: BANDOL I started with the wine as deep in goth variety (Mourvèdre), as they go. The name just SOUNDS goth. And its confident structure and dark fruit flavors back it all up. 2020 Chateau Pradeaux Bandol A wine both sensual and intellectual. Balanced and complex, it makes you want to cogitate, and then the lovely rhubarb/peach/herbs and allspice flavors make you want to conju…fill in the blank. I love this wine, even if it will only be my lover. ROSADO AND ROSATO Please do not hate me Spain (Rosado) and Italy (Rosato) for grouping you together. You both frequently (but not always) are delightfully dark shades of pink. And you sound alike. The grapes? Different. The spirit? Maybe not exactly the same; they vary region to region within the country. In a way, the irregularity makes them similar. Freewheeling goth rosé. Here’s two of my favorites. 2020 Legado del Moncayo Garnacha Campo de Borja Rosé Grown on the slopes of the extinct Moncayo volcano—does it get grimmer than volcanos? This is on the lighter side of goth rosé, but so is the Cure, and we are still down. Bright red fruit (strawberries, and all iterations thereof) lilt—they LILT—and happy stones kick in. So fresh. 2020 Proprietà Sperino “Rosa del Rosa” Piemonte Rosato Nebbiolo plus Vespolina. Medium salmon color. Wow. It is a journey of a wine. Earthy on the nose—actually I get iris and daffodils, but in situ, not a bouquet, earth clinging on. Body lighter. White pepper to the max. Rosewater finish. Keeps you gong. RHÔNE My first fave goth rosé. You’re likely more familiar with Tavel which, if someone said “you can have one wine for the rest of your life”…well, first I’d try to bargain for one wine for each category (sparkling, white, red, rosé, fortified), and if that was a no-go, I would say Tavel. Its lesser seen neighbor Lirac does stand-up work too! 2020 Cave de Tavel “Cuvée Royale” That look! The juice and the bottle. If the juice went a shade darker, you’d nearly call it light red…it is SO radiant ruby. Gives up ocean freshness, ruby grapefruit, ripe raspberries, and peaches on the nose. All this plus salinity and seaweed and BODY that is at once there but also limber on the palate. It washes over like a wave you’ve caught. 2020 Château de Montfaucon Lirac Rosé What’s gother than being the also-ran southern Rhône region with fabulous rosé? Seriously, Lirac is just north of Tavel—do they get less acclaim because unlike Tavel they also make red and white wine? I don’t know but I do know I adore this Grenache Noir/Mourvèdre/Syrah/Cinsault blend. Ripe white peach and raspberries. Middling acid. It is different than Tavel but has an elegance and ripe-fresh balance all its own. PINOT NOIRS The name COULD say it all, but in the case of the wines I selected, the color does too. 2020 Reichsrat von Buhl “Bone Dry” Spätburgunder Pfalz Rosé Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the gothest of them all? It has to be Reichsrat von Buhl. I mean, “bone dry”. The label. Sure, if I saw this on the supermarket shelf, I’d be inclined to discount it as a gimmick-y bottle, but no this is exquisitely filled with red fruit (raspberry, pomegranate, cherry) and…is it mint? Also red roses. And it’s so German. It gets cold there. Goths get cold and need warming rosés. And this one is that. 2020 Sokol Blosser “Estate” Dundee Hills Rosé of Pinot Noir The color! Nose is like ruby grapefruit waves and just-barely, ripe peach strawberry surfers, and the moon is pulling those grapefruit waves salt-fun tides. The palate has a hint of tannic structure, wet sand under your toes. It all ends on raspberry sunbathers. Was comparing wine to a day at the beach the least goth thing I’ve ever done? OUTLIERS The grapes and regions you don’t think of when you think rosé. Goths are outliers, the Ally Sheedy character in The Breakfast Club, making sandwiches of Cap’n Crunch in the movie, and maybe pouring rosé on the cereal when in the bowl? Maybe not. Anyway, these goth rosés fit neatly nowhere and that just emphasizes their nature. 2020 Domaine Zafeirakis Tirnavos Limniona Rosé Medium-plus, salmon colored goth. Probably the lightest of the bunch. Goth for being old school. Zafeirakis is reviving the grape variety of Limniona, a local-to-Tirnavos variety. Very alive. Very sweet-tart. The prickle on the tongue and the slight umeboshi plum are balanced by a ripe, raspberry vibe. Warming but not boozed out. Slight tannin grip. It isn’t river stones; it is dry pumice. Rough as us goths enjoy. 2020 Umathum “Rosa” Burgenland Rosé The font is goth. “Rosa” isn’t. Lesser-known varieties are. The taste quenches my thirst and tickles my corset. This Blaufrankisch/St. Laurent/Zweigelt blend also gets points for a bottle whose glass was so dark I wondered if I accidentally purchased a red. Brilliant deep pink. Smells so fresh of candied tangerine and something spicy that made me sneeze the way Vernor’s Ginger Ale does, and/or is that cardamom? On the palate it does something of a...I dunno Whack-a-Mole on your palate? Popping up at different places (I get mid-palate then front and sides before the finish) with different sensations (strawberry shortcake! More tangerine! It all was drizzled with white balsamic!) This wine has a lot to say, if only we can get it to voice its ideas outside the notebooks it scribbles in in coffee houses. And finally, I am sure you are all wondering, which of these is a goth rosé shower wine? It must be the Bandol—which while it may seem heavy for a hot shower, combat boots and petticoats are heavy on summer days, and goths make it work. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Want to read more from Ellen? Check out her recent articles: From Lalaland to Languedoc Ellen in Lalaland: Return of the Bar Covell Roussillon Ready Hard (Seltzer) Job, Someone Had To Do It Old World vs. New World: Merlot You can also listen to Ellen's podcast , The Wine Situation here . Check out her recent transcripts of the Final Five questions: Wine Situation Final Five! With Beth Burnham Wine Situation Final Five! With Casleah Herwaldt

Legado del Moncayo

Campo de Borja Garnacha Rosé 2020

Bright! Strawberries, mineral and exquisite freshness. — 3 years ago

Paul, Trixie and 12 others liked this
Joshua Fisher

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Hope your recovery is swift

Les Vignerons de Tavel

Cuvée Royále Rosé Rhône Blend 2020

Are people scared to give highest laud to deep rosés filled with soul, complexity, texture, and maybe not perfect balanced but if it were it would be a wine to watch ? This bottle could keep you entertained for a night as is keep speaking and its words bring you in. — 3 years ago

Severn, Peter and 12 others liked this
Peter Sultan

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👏🏼I laud you for the marvelous photo & the Tavel!@Ellen Clifford

Domaine Zafeirakis

Tyrnavos Limniona Rosé 2020

Whoaaaaa don’t think I’ve ever had a Limniona wine before. Revive that variety! It’s sweet-tart and there is a rather pleasing tannic grip. — 3 years ago

Trixie, Josh and 12 others liked this

Château de Montfaucon

Lirac Rosé Blend 2020

What a beautifully full but energetic body this has! There’s salinity balls sting ruby grapefruit, ripe raspberries and peaches. Deeeeeeliteful — 3 years ago

Trixie, Josh and 11 others liked this

Sokol Blosser

Estate Cuvée Dundee Hills Rosé of Pinot Noir 2020

Gorgeous color, it’s ruby grapefruit waves with peach/raspberry surfers. Salinity keeps it riding high. — 3 years ago

Trixie, Josh and 9 others liked this
Trixie

Trixie

Looks like rose all day for you! Cheers!
Ellen Clifford

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@Trixie all day and all goth night rosé here…
Trixie

Trixie

🦇Excellent!

Reichsrat Von Buhl

Bone Dry Rosé Blend 2020

Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the gothest of them all? It’s either me or this wine. In spirit and/or taste. Dark on the outside perfumed inside. Lives up to being bone dry, if bones can live. Smells like raspberries and pomegranate molasses. with a hint of mint. So light in the mouth, which given its color is a surprise. Then again get one of us mildly goths to open up and we crack a smile. The better to show our custom fangs by my darling. Oh yes so on the palate it treads lightly in weight. Underripe cherries and roses and electricity or is that just the friendly acid giving me a love-zap? — 3 years ago

Paul, Trixie and 11 others liked this
Trixie

Trixie

Robert Smith of The Cure is the one of the Gothest!💀🖤
Ellen Clifford

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@Trixie absolutely! ❤️

Proprieta Sperino

Rosa del Rosa Piemonte Rosato 2020

A wine complex both in flavor and personality, keeps me guessing keeps me going. Salmon pink fun to the eye then smell…earth. This is more than frilly fun. Sip, amd whoa! This is neither a partier nor someone tied to the earth. It’s a sophisticate. A sophisticate who dabs Rosé water behind their ears. A sophisticate who sips mineral water and pomegranate juice. A sophisticate who also maybe picked those roses and likes a strawberry jolly rancher at the end of the day, taking it all back to frilly fun. What a time to drink rosado. I want this rosado as a mentor. — 3 years ago

Romain, Josh and 11 others liked this
Ellen Clifford

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@Jay Kline I’m into them! This was the first wine of theirs I had and I want more!
Jay Kline

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@Ellen Clifford their “Uvaggio” is a killer Nebbiolo blend and outstanding value
Ellen Clifford

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@Jay Kline good to know, thank you!

Umathum

Rosa Rosé Blend 2020

Candied tangerine nose with something spicy that makes me think of a ginger ale sneeze. Tastes of more citrus plus strawberry shortcake and a hint of savory balsamic. — 3 years ago

Trixie, Josh and 13 others liked this

Château Pradeaux

Bandol Mourvedre - Cinsault Rosé Blend 2020

As goth in residence I should alert you that aside from inevitable pheromones it is intellectual wine acumen that revs my motor. Ipso facto if brains turn you on, this Bandol will seduce you with its thoughtful rigor—it has its balance and complexity fine-tuned. Then pure sensual attributes (silky rhubarb/peach Melba joy/is that a bay leaf? And omg perhaps even a hint of allspice) are all guest speakers at the symposium. This wine has deep thoughts but is perky-goth enough to dance til at least 3am. Daylight may be too much though. — 3 years ago

Paul, Scott@Mister and 24 others liked this
Ellen Clifford

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@Paul T- Huntington Beach Fantastic. Yes, it is above and beyond. It checks so many boxes and does it with grace. Rosé to keep in the wheelhouse
Jeroen Koenen

Jeroen Koenen

Love this wine. And really dig your note, as well.
Ellen Clifford

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@Jeroen Koenen glad you enjoyed, cheers!