Spring Is Offically Time for Rosé All Day
Spring has sprung and with it the official start of rosé season. As I’ve said before, personally I like to drink rosé all year, but here at K&L we definitely start to see an uptick in demand as the lighter evenings draw out and temperatures rise. Another trend I love to see is the continued acceptance of rosé that isn't necessarily the newest vintage release. A few years back there seemed to be a race for wineries to get their rosés in bottle and released to consumers as quickly as possible. Folks seemed to want the newest vintages that sometimes were only plucked from the vine six months before being drunk. I often lamented that many of those wines didn’t fully express themselves in the rush to market. Shortcuts were sometimes taken in the cellar and wines were regularly released while still in shock after being bottled or not fully integrated or resolved from the fermentation process. Often we would reach fall and the wines would just be coming into their own and beginning to really impress, and yet could be considered “old” or “long in the tooth” by some.
Thankfully I now see more and more people realizing that many rosé wines actually show much better with a year in bottle to settle down without really losing any freshness or vitality. So when you see lots of 2023 (or even 2022) vintage rosé wines on our shelves and online, rest assured that in the vast majority of instances that is most definitely a positive thing for quality and the enjoyment of the wines. Here are a few of my favorite in stock rosés for your consideration.
2024 Fossil Point Edna Valley Grenache Rosé $12.95 A perennial go-to for me. The folks at Fossil Point put together this utterly delicious and refreshing Grenache-based rosé for a super reasonable price. Picked for rosé specifically, then direct pressed and fermented in stainless steel. Bright red berry fruit, passionfruit, spiced citrus, salty minerals.
2019 Goat Bubbles "Solomon Hills Vineyard" Santa Maria Valley Sparkling Rosé $14.95 (Elsewhere $38) A playful name, but a serious bottle of traditional method sparkling wine. Fruit from the highly renowned Solomon Hills vineyard in the mouth of the Santa Maria Valley. A very cool and windy site with deep, sandy soils. A single block of a Swiss clone of Pinot Noir is pressed on a long, gentle cycle to extract just a hint of pink color. The wine then rested for more than three years on lees before being disgorged with just 2g/L dosage. The wine has a wonderful fresh acid line with zesty citrus fruit, crystalline preserved lemon with just a hint of alpine strawberry. The finish pivots from juicy mouth watering fruit to long lingering yeasty flavors and ocean air minerals.
2023 Ovum "Pink Salt" Oregon Rosé $18.95 Winemaker John House makes some of the most esoteric yet delicious wines in all of Oregon. This Pink Salt rosé is almost entirely direct press Cabernet Sauvignon from the Columbia Gorge. To this bright, crunchy Cabernet rosé John adds a dash (2%) of his typical Big Salt White blend, a mix of Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Early Muscat, and Sauvignon Blanc. Wonderfully tart and juicy. Rocky minerals, dried herbs. Very moreish and easy to drink.
2023 Preston "Estate - Vin Gris" Dry Creek Valley Rosé $19.95 I’m love Preston’s rosé. It’s an absolute winner in 2023. Produced entirely from their organically farmed estate in Dry Creek Valley. The 2023 is composed of 50% Mourvèdre, 30% Cinsaut, 10% Grenache, and 10% Zinfandel. The wine gets a long, slow, native ferment in stainless steel and neutral oak. The wine then rests on its lees for 6 months prior to bottling. Lovely floral notes, ripe raspberry, hints of bramble leaf, baking spice, riverstone mineral.
2023 Rootdown "St. Amant Vineyard" Amador County Rose of Trousseau Noir $21.95 Over the past few years I’ve continue to be super impressed with everything Mike Lucia is doing at Rootdown cellars. His rejuvenation of Cole Ranch and full embrace of varietals from the Jura. Whilst most of his wines now focus on this historic estate, he continues to make Trousseau from the revered St. Amant Vineyard in Amador. This varietal seems to thrive in the decomposed granitic soils of the region. Mike’s gentle hand in the cellar issues forth a bright, pure, elegant rosé like mineral water with hints of watermelon, crushed raspberry, alpine herbs, and spiced citrus peel. So delicious, one of my favorites this year.
2023 Bedrock Wine Company "Ode to Lulu" California Rosé $21.95 This wine never misses. Bedrock’s Ode to Lulu has to be one of the most consistently excellent rosés produced in California. Based largely around old vine Mataro or Mourvèdre in homage to the iconic rosé of Domaine Tempier in Bandol. Bright summer fruits, nectarine, strawberry, hints of pomegranate. Dry yet soft and supple in texture. Beautiful, versatile rosé.
2023 Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir Rosé $29.95 Flowers does a great job with their rosé. Winemaker Chantal Forthun has access to incredible fruit across the Sonoma Coast including their own organically farmed Camp Meeting Ridge and Seaview estate vineyards. Whole-cluster pressed, native fermentation (in 90% stainless steel and 10% neutral oak) keeps this wine really fresh and focused. Alpine strawberry, hints of blood orange, watermelon, wet slate and saline minerals. Finessed and focused.
2024 Ridge Vineyards "Lytton Estate" Rosé $34.95 Varying slightly each year, the 2024 Lytton rosé is composed of 40% Grenache, 29% Zinfandel, 14% Cinsaut, 10% Counoise, and 7% Mataro all from organically farmed vines. The fruit is picked at very deliberate ripeness levels with several picks eventually being blended together to make the final wine. The wine is native fermented entirely in stainless steel. A short elevage of 3 months keeps the wine bright and crunchy. Partial malo rounds some of the edges of the crisp dry wine. Peach, melon, subtle raspberry hints, crushed stone, bramble leaf, mulling spice hints. Vibrant and chalky.