Is Collectible Rosé Wine an Oxymoron?

Fruity, fun, quaffable—rosé is seriously good, but sometimes struggles to be taken seriously. This wasn’t always the case. Ancient Greek winemakers tended to co-ferment red and white grapes, and the light pink result was their preferred style. Red wine was often harsh, tannic, and nearly always cut with water to make it easier to drink. Legend has it that the Phocaeans brought grape vines from Greece to France’s Marseille region in 6th century BC, and the practice of co-fermenting a field blend of red and white grapes was imported too. This southern French area became deeply intertwined with the production of pink wine, and it’s why we still turn to it for a great majority of the pink we drink.

The winemaking culture came unsteadily to the U.S., in fits and starts. Prohibition changed many people’s relationship to wine and their palate—we went mad for the slightly sweet and very cheap early pink imports like Lancers in the mid-20th century. Sutter Home followed suit and started making pink wine called white Zinfandel. Thanks to a stuck fermentation, a batch came out sweet, and American consumers gobbled it up. Thus the era of white Zinfandel was born.

Rosé has always been fun, but for long time it was pretty easily dismissed in most wine circles. Hardly ever made with quality grapes, it wasn’t taken very seriously in the U.S.; until a decade or so ago, you’d hardly ever find it on restaurant wine lists. But somewhere along the way, we got the memo! More serious domestic winemakers began making it; more importers began bringing in high-quality examples from abroad; celebrities even starting dipping their toes in the rosé game. It can be a stunningly complex wine in its own right when made with quality fruit and winemaking techniques. Rosé has long been the reigning queen of cheap and cheerful, but some versions are so well made and special that they merit a space in your cellar. Some rosé can develop in the bottle and develop additional depth and character with age. From rosé Champagne to cult-caliber Lebanese bottlings, rosé is—finally—getting its moment in the sun.

Here’s a few of our favorites, featured in last weekend’s tasting lineup—with a few notes from the Buyers. If you love rosé as much as we do, these are well worth checking out! 

2023 Ridge Vineyards "Lytton Estate" Rosé $34.95 We wouldn’t fault you if you didn’t even know that Ridge made a rosé—most of us staffers didn’t know either until we got it in stock! This blend of Rhône varieties and Zinfandel (36% Grenache, 26% Zinfandel, 15% Mataro, 14% Cinsault, 9% Counoise—all organically farmed) has only been produced since 2016.

2023 Realm "Precious Twin" Napa Valley Rosé $69.95 90% Merlot and 10% Charbono from the famed Napa cult producer. We have a very small quantity of this, so grab it while we have it! They gave us a few extra bottles for the weekend’s tasting, but, as with all Realm wines, it is highly allocated.

2023 Chateau Pradeaux Bandol Rosé $26.99 50% Mourvèdre and 50% Cinsault, all grown from the estate’s younger vines (which average around 25 years of age). This is a rare rosé with staying power and exceptional complexity.

2022 Clos Cibonne "Cuvée Spéciale des Vignettes" Tibouren Côtes de Provence Rosé $54.99 90% Tibouren and 10% Grenache from 60+ year old vines. Tibouren is a large, thin-skinned berry that you won’t see much of, as it’s hard to grow. Though many producers choose not to work with it for economic reasons, those that do can produce an exotic, gorgeous wine. The grape produces aromas that can be floral, spicy, and with Provençal garrigue and herbal notes; it brings more to the table than a lot of other red grapes for rosé production, it just requires more care. 

2020 Bodegas 220 Cántaras "Lias Finas" Rosado Rioja $34.99 A blend of old vine 50% each Viura and Garnach, the wine is briefly macerated and co-fermented, then aged 16 months in used barrels (which previously held his Lias Finas white wine). 

2018 Château Musar Rosé Bekaa Valley $49.99 In 1930, Gaston Hochar returned home from his travels in Bordeaux and decided to plant his own vineyards in the mountains around the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. His son Serge studied winemaking in Bordeaux and then took over the domaine in the 50s, continuing to work on their Bordeaux style. The 2018 is a blend of 57% Obaideh and 40% Merwah, two indigenous Lebanese white grapes thought to be related to Chardonnay and Sémillon respectively. About 3% Cinsault is added for color during the press. The grapes that go into this wine are from some of their highest-altitude, lowest-yielding vineyards, and the white grapes are from vines planted between 1927 and 1940. The first vintage of the rosé was 1995. It was made as an homage to the style of rosé Champagne that Serge loved: white wines with reserve red juice added. 

2012 Billecart-Salmon "Cuvée Elisabeth" Brut Rosé Champagne $219.99 55% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir. The “miracle” 2012 vintage ranks with 2008 and 2002 as one of the top modern vintages in Champagne. Spring weather was its normal terrible self—frost, hail, and disease lowered yields per normal, but early August through harvest was unusually—and unexpectedly—ideal. Loads of sunshine ripened the grapes to phenolic perfection and the cool temperatures produced racy acidity that gave the cuvées great structure and aging potential.The Cuvée Elisabeth was created in 1988 as a tribute to one of the house’s founders, Elisabeth Salmon. The Chardonnay comes from Chouilly, Avize, Mesnil-Sur-Oger, and Cramant. The Pinot Noir is from Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Aÿ, and Ambonnay. The red component comes from old vines on the south facing slopes in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ.  A very small percentage of the red is vinified in wood. The wine is aged sur latte for 115 months.

- Kate Soto, Digital Content Lead