Sometimes an adventurous purchase pays off. Appearing nearly iced-tea brown housed in a green-glass Burgundy bottle, a true act of market confidence/bravery by the producer, this one intrigued. That, along with the recommendation of my local grocer’s wine dept (love my Sunshine Foods guys), who hedged a bit with, “we were surprised it was really not bad at all considering the production story…” This is a gorgeous bottle of rosé. Delicately salmon pink with complex aromas. Crackling natural acidity as only intentional rosé can bring, apparently produced/aged in 100-year old foudres under cover of flor. Flor? Really? One starts to think Sherry, oxidation, and all manner of ideas inconsistent with what I seek in a rosé but clearly they know what they’re doing. Fresh, crisp, orange-creamsickle flavors, depth, minerality an almost saline essence, just delicious. Served with Santa Rosa Seafood’s beautiful not-overly-smoky smoked salmon, on bed of braised chard with nectarines, roasted beets and drizzle of excellent peppery extra virgin olive oil on a warm May evening. Lovely lovely wine. I’m going back for the rest of the shelf, and I rarely buy rosé except sampling to taste and learn.
Great wine, always a pleasure to drink.
As you have observed, this is a rose with significant character! It is really a great accompaniment to food. I have never heard that about the flor before, although I would note that while flor certainly has a distinctive flavor, it actually protects the wine from oxidation. Their “red” wine (which is almost as “rose” as the rose is red) is a wine I like very much as well, loads of flavor is a light-textured package.
A friend opened one of these early this year (not sure whether it was the 2013 or 2014) and it really impressed me. I picked up a 2014 about a month ago and I’m looking for a good time to open it in the next month or two.
Love that wine, though haven’t tried the 2014. As you noted, the flor aging seems to add salinity more than oxidative notes.
-Al
Great note, Emily. Picked up a bottle from K and L to give it a whirl. The saline notes sound intriguing. I’ve not been drinking much rose lately – this one sounds well worth a try though.
Thanks of the fine note Emily. This is an annual purchase for me (and I haven’t gotten any of the '14 yet, looks like its time!)
Terribly interesting rose and as said above, this is a fantastic food wine. Looks like it’s time to ante up again.
Thanks of the reminder.
Cheers
Had a 2012 of this on Friday night utterly fantastic in every way. The Rose field is painfully crowded at the moment & this is a major standout.
I am not the biggest fan of rose wine, but this wine delivers an interesting and unique experience. I assume you had the basic Cuvée Traditional? If you want to “kick-it-up-a-notch”, try their Cuvée Spéciale des Vignettes: it is a little more intense and I feel like it has more stuffing than the regular.
I’ll second the recommendation for the Cuvée Spéciale des Vignettes. Well worth the price difference, IMO, especially if you let it age for a few years. The 2009 is drinking great right now with about half an hour in the decanter and the 2013’s have finally started to open up.
New to me. I also added one to the basket from K&L. Thank you for the recommendation. Rose with character sounds perfect and fun. Now for some sunshine and a baguette.
Thanks for the notes on this. Have not tried but will try to grab a bottle as well. Interesting that they age the wine on its lees for a year before bottling. One wonders with the economics of Rose and the increased demand if they will change their elevage as so many other producers in the south of France have done to get wine to market faster in the future . . .
Cheers.