Happy Rosé Day…I Mean, Duh

If forced to pick a favorite wine style, I would say Rosé. Granted, any variety/color comes in myriad styles. I could find Rosés, oranges, whites, bubblies and reds to fit any mood if I had to…I’m mainly into this open arrangement, but if forced to pick one…I’d like to marry Rosé. So happily, these “wine holidays” (in this case, National Rosé Day is the second Saturday in June) give me an excuse to toot my horn about recent Rosé shenanigans. As I may have mentioned in past pieces, I like a challenge. I decided to highlight slightly more unusual or lesser sipped Rosés. So while I have written about Tavel before, this time, I focus on other Rhône Rosés (though my undying Tavel love is well documented here .) But I also included Marsonnay, the only Cote d’Or appellation to allow a pink, and Sancerre, a well-known region but mainly for whites. And then Txakolina (be still my heart), and OH! If you are efficiency-minded, one of my lesser-thought-of Rosés is a Lambrusco, which has its very own holiday coming on the 21st, so get some Lambrusco Rosé and kill two holidays with one cork. They’re not included here but shout out to the Finger Lakes Cabernet Franc, Bardolino Chiaretto and Ramato Pinot Grigio for being undersung but delish. Get excited. Be excited. Drink Rosé. Be well. MARSONNAY Burgundy is so dang strict. Especially the Côte d’Or, where you’ll mostly find red wine (Pinot Noir) or white wine (Chardonnay), but one snowflake has Rosé. Marsonnay, all hail you, Marsonnay, you northernmost outlier! You are the only Village-level Burg to make red, white and Rosé. 2021 Domaine Charles Audoin Marsonnay Rosé Pretty salmon baby! The nose has a touch of reduction that I don’t find unpleasant. Other than that, there’s agreeable wet stone. Super zippy but, for a Rosé, dense. Juicy, juicy, juicy, with sour and sweet red cherry, a hint of garrigue, and maybe even some blood orange. All fun and games. Toes the line between ponderous and peppy. It zips through the mouth but leaves a feeling of enjoyable weight or a light coating. It finishes bright as it begins. RHÔNE In my Unexpected Blancs article , I tackled the whites out of the Rhône because, let’s be real, we mostly think of it for reds, and the whites get limited to Viogner from Condrieu and Rosé from Tavel. THERE IS MORE BLUSH, MY FRIENDS! Like these here. 2022 Domaine de la Verde Royal Sunset Vacqueyras Rosé Supes floral, and I intuited that before even finding out it was named after a rose varietal planted in the vineyard—but it shows! There are bright, fresh red strawberry, raspberry and even some cranberry cocktail aromas, with white pepper and a sense of earth. It borders on middle-weight viscosity. Very enjoyable both in chilly and hot circumstances. This is a Rosé built to weather the storm or the fire. 2022 Château Mourgues du Gres Galets Rosés Costieres-de-Nimes Rosé Brilliant, bright coral in appearance. It’s fresh but shows rich stone fruit on the nose. This pulls through the drive delivering peach melba balanced with some thyme/bay leaf herbaceousness and…a hint of cola? It’s an interesting (in a good way) drink and a value to boot. TXAKOLINA I’m a nut for these Basque wines that are spun from the lesser-known-to-the-major wine-swilling-public, if at all, grape varieties: Hondarrabi Beltza (red) and Hondarrabi Zuri (white). ‘Nuff said. 2017 Hiruzta Txakolina Basque Brut Nature Getariako Txakolina Hondarrabi Zuri Rosé While it’s typical for Txakolina to be bottled with a touch of carbon dioxide, I’ve never had a full-on sparkling Brut Nature (aka no dosage to sweeten the package bottling). The nose is charming. It’s slightly chalky and seashell-ish, with rather ripe, perfumed red fruit (strawberry, raspberry) and a touch of lifted floral notes somewhere between honeysuckle and rose water. On the palate, it’s pretty silky as the fizz subsides, making it somewhat reminiscent of how the sweetness of Pop Rocks kicks in once they settle down. Not that this is sweet at all, but it does have a rather playful texture. It finishes with a bit of sea spray and herbs like bay leaf (they DO do something for your cooking) and thyme. Yum. CERASUOLO D’ABRUZZO A wine from central Italy that can be such a deep Rosé, you question the difference between light red and deep pink, if there is one. It’s in the name: Cerasuolo means cherry red, yet most consider it Rosé. Anyway. Who cares. It’s good wine. This one is made of Montepulciano, and it’s a banger. 2021 Fantini Cerasualo d’Abruzzo Such a fuchsia! One that has just enough brightness and warm…pinkness? I wouldn’t be tempted to call it a red, but it kind of is…yet so translucent and springtime warm-hued, whereas I feel some light reds masquerading as Rosé have a more winter complexion? It matters not, honestly. DAMN, it’s good. Aquamarine goodness is in there. There’s medium acidity, but the open-knit fruit is chill. Then it hits you. This tastes like red (whatever the actual flavor) Nerds. All underlined with a certain creamy vibe. That amount of energy and 90s childhood sweets flavor without the actual sugar. That is the vibe; that is the flavor on the finish. SANCERRE You go, Sancerre, both your rouge and blush delights. You are more than Sauvignon Blanc that no longer tastes so Sauvignon Blanc-y for the masses. Not that there’s anything wrong with you if you happen to be the masses. There’s a place for everyone. 2021 Domaine de la Villaudiere Sancerre Rosé Rich coral pink. The nose promises bright strawberry and cherry vitamins and a good dose of wet stone and white pepper. The palate follows, buoyed by chipper acidity and the faintest tannic whisper. It is somewhat light in body. I wouldn’t call it watered down, but maybe it could stand a little more body if you are me, the Tavel lover? But I know the masses (sorry again, masses, there’s nothing wrong with being mass-y) like a lighter Rosé, so take that comment with a grain of salt which, speaking of, there’s a pleasant salinity here I am DOWN with. It demands French fries immediately. LAMBRUSCO Yassssss, bubbly from the Emilia-Romagna! Pink bubbly! The best kind. NV Cleto Chiarli Brut di Noir Rosé Spumante di Qualità This darling uses the Grasparossa variety of Lambrusco! One of my faves, as I tend to find it has a little more depth and body, but I’m not sure if I’ve had it as a Rosé? Oh, but also 15% Pinot Nero. This is dry but just barely at the 12g/l threshold of what is considered Brut—technically, I think it’s extra sec. It reads as barely dry to me. Fully bubbly. Plush, ripe raspberry and cream. And if you care, the training system for the vines was Geneva Double Curtain. The palate also has a nice herbaceousness, finishing a tad savory. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Want to read more from Ellen? Check out her recent articles: A Spritz in Your Summer Step Wine Women All Year Round Old World vs. New World: Tannat Ellen in Lalaland: Escape to Santa Monica 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! Amanda Greenbaum Wine Situation Final Five! Kate Ayres