Six Domestic Rosés Worth the Fuss This Summer
K&L Wine Merchants' Aaron Hughes reviews the best new domestic rosé wines for summer 2025, including selections from California's Sonoma Coast and Oregon's Willamette Valley.
Hip Hip Rosé, It's the Pinkest Season
It's the most magical time of the year, no I'm not talking about Christmas, but the season of all of the new rosé wines coming out! Christmas is fine and all, but that's about giving and getting and some other stuff, and kind of interferes with my birthday, but rosé season is about the most perfect time of year and some of the most fun wines! This year we've already introduced you to some of the wonderful French rosés, but you know what really doesn't get enough attention? The amazing rosés we have from our Domestic wine aisles.
People tend to think Domestic rosé is going to be sweet or overly fruity, and that's really not true for the producers that we carry. The wines we carry are for the most part the wines that we're going to drink, both the buyers and us regular ol' salespeople, and we want only the best for ourselves—as well as for you. I've selected some of the new 2025 rosé wines that we have from California and Oregon—and they are really up to snuff this year. They've all got great acid, really nice fruit, and are genuinely fun to drink. Let's delve into these wonderful little darlings to give you a good idea for your next shopping list when you stop in for some of the pink stuff.
2025 Red Car Sonoma Coast Rosé of Pinot Noir $22.95 One thing I love about wine is how your experience can change from bottle to bottle of the very same wine. The first time I tried this rosé I wasn't the biggest fan, but I really love it today. There's a gorgeous white peach gummy that's accompanying the watermelon candy on the nose, and then underneath that there's a steeliness that I'm really digging. Each inhale is this sensory treat. The palate walks that really fine line between being a little juicy and having the crispness that you need from a rosé. This has a crisp line of acidity pushing through like a wave with little surfer fruit on the crest just doing a pipe tube or whatever. I feel like I blew it at the end, but you get it: it's rad. It’s delicious and dry with a super pretty raspberry note on the palate, along with touches of the watermelon. Definitely a go-to recommendation.
2025 Stoller Willamette Valley Rosé of Pinot Noir $14.95 Yummy yum, this just smells so good. It's got an amazing watermelon and green apple jolly rancher nose, with wisps of tropicality sneaking in around the sides. When you take a sip, the acidity rushes in, cleaning the palate and bringing with it watermelon, crisp apple, lemon juice, and little touches of salinity. This is an absolutely banging bottle of rose for the price, a crushable bottle of don't worry about it. This is the answer to a question you didn't ask yet, but you're gonna ask it soon as the season keeps warming up.
2025 Anonymous Wine Collective Contra Costa County Rosé of Mourvedre $14.95 Good Lord, the nose on this is gorgeous. There's bright red raspberry, but also luscious and juicy white peach, alpine strawberry, hyacinths, and a light pink floral note. I love Mourvèdre so please understand this review will be very biased and subjective, just like all of the other reviews that I do. The palate is a little juicy, with watermelon rind, underripe raspberry, cherry water, and great acidity, pushing the fruit through towards the end, with a mid-weight for a rosé. This is a quintessential porch wine, something that I want to have some nibbles with, especially goat cheese crostini with something savory/sweet on top of the goat cheese. Yeah, I want that. Anyhow, this is a really well-priced and well-placed rosé that has everything you're looking for, at least that I'm looking for, I'm assuming you're also a person of quality and taste.
2025 Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir Rosé $34.95 When I first stuck my nose in the glass it was like I had somehow pushed my nose inside of a freshly picked strawberry, still cool from the morning. I really liked that. As I kept going, out came some of the watermelon candy notes, also a bit of lemon curd and wet stone. The palate is exceptional, bright underripe raspberry, pie cherry, grated cranberry, and more wet stone notes with a hint of salinity on the lingering finish. Another rosé with really good acid—seems like a pretty good year for it overall—and it's got a nice depth as well. This is top-tier rosé from a top-tier California producer, and it delivers exactly how you would hope and expect. Yum.
2025 Marine Layer "Carina" Sonoma Coast Rose $32.95 This is a lovely princess-pink in the glass; it's visually striking, and, like they say, we drink with our eyes first. The nose is plush with a bright raspberry note shining through the top, then white strawberry and underripe white peach. It makes me think of spring, even though we're much closer to summer as of this writing. The palate has outstanding weight, with fresh and bright cherry on the front, turning into raspberry then into the underripe strawberry as the acidity pushes the fruit through your palate. Top tier and perfect for finger foods; there's too much going on here to just crush it by the pool. But you know what? Please just live your best life and do what makes you happy as far as how and when you crush a rosé—just be joyous while doing it.
2025 Big Salt "PNK Salt" Oregon Rosé $17.95 Year to year this has been one of my favorite wineries; both Big Salt and Ovum behind them make killer wines in Oregon. This has lovely notes of bright cherry, freshly cut strawberries that you shouldn't quite have cut yet, rhubarb, and flowers. The palate is deep and a punchy with moderate acidity but the juicy fruit is almost heavy on the palate for a rosé. It's both surprising and enjoyable, giving it a fun gravitas while being super crushable. Each sip is fun just by itself. There's a bit of hyacinth and green notes, but it's integrated and adds complexity. I remain a big fan, which is a huge relief for me; kind of awkward otherwise.
This list was painstakingly curated and put together by me in about 15 minutes, because once I saw the list of 2025 rosé wines that we had, it was pretty easy to choose. These are fantastic producers that we buy wine from year after year, especially because we know that they're reliable and give our customers a fantastic value for their money, the ever elusive and always sought after excellent QPR.
I hope that you like these wines as much as I do, and don't forget that rosé with a little age on it is also very good, so don't shy away from any of the older vintages we have, especially if you want something a little rounder.
Have a great day, please, and I'll see you in the store, friend.