Yep, another article talking about the category of Rose ‘jumping the shark’ and the number of sub-par roses that continue to flood the market.
I continue to be amazed at the ‘rose all day’ crowd - and the number of new releases catering to this crowd, including from some pretty well known and well respected producers.
There was tons of sub-par rose before. This is nothing about nothing.
Just a lot more of it, my friend . . . 
So what?
It’s no different than any other ‘category’ of wine that becomes more popular - the number of selections increase but the overall quality does not necessarily. I think you can agree that there is more ‘bad’ roses out there than ever - folks chasing the trend but not spending a lot of time or energy to create ‘distinctive’ wines.
Ok, but folks who like to drink rose yet are not wine geeks are buying it, so what’s the issue?
No ‘issue’ per se - but the same can be said for any ‘category’ of wine with regards to folks enjoying wines that others might not consider ‘good’. That’s all . . .
I am not against non wine geeks enjoy wine - it’s what they should do. That said, many consumers have no idea of the different types of roses that are out there - and to me, it’s important to see articles like this that point this out.
OK, but the people you would want to have read it won’t ever see it.
David,
Most likely true, but there is a wider variety of ‘wine drinkers’ on this board then one might assume. There are plenty of ‘newbies’ who enjoy wines that others here would ‘scoff’ at. They are a non-vocal group who are most likely ‘intimidated’ posting about some of the wines that they prefer because they fall out of the ‘norm’ of the vocal minority here . . .
Cheers.
I’ll admit that I do not understand Rose. I’ve had all sorts from various regions. I’ve never had one that I thought was superior on a hot day to any number of solid white wine options, or nearly as good from a wine drinking perspective as just a really solid red wine. It’s like half way in between and not as good as either extreme. I just don’t get it.
Now throw some bubbles in it, charge me 50% more, and make it in Champagne and we’ve got something to discuss.
I find that it’s hard to easily find good whites at the same price point as a decent Rose wine .
Well, I like rose because the ones I like stand up to food better than alot of whites. I’ve never been a fan of the whispery minerally roses. I actually like a bit of fruit in them. Not sweet, but enough that they stand up to a great deal many dishes and arent as heavy as a red.
This is me.
I remember the White Zin explosion in the 80s and this Rose kick feels like a replay. I think it’s the same type of wine drinker getting attracted to these roses. They want an easy-to-drink, fruity, slightly sweet pink wine.
It’s definitely true that there is some real crap coming on to the market to chase the $$$. I was at a rose tasting a few weeks ago (my wife and sister wanted to go). There were between 50-75 wines there for tasting. After I was done tasting the labels from Provance (my region of choice) that have been around for a long time, I tried some other stuff from new labels. There were generally pretty bad. The worst was a label from Bordeaux that I don’t recall. It was exactly like sucking on a grapefruit. It was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever tasted.
The shame of it is that the really serious roses that are out there that have been around for decades are going to get hammered when the bubble bursts in a couple of years.
Can’t disagree that that market is absolutely flooded with crap rose.
Where are these roses and how come I don’t see them? Oh yeah, because I live in Timbuktu.
We’ve seen this game and know how it ends (badly. Remember ‘Sutter Home’ anyone?)
We go through Rose like water every summer.
Drinking one tonight from Copain that we got at Whole Foods for $14. Great QPR.
Have to say, the Tercero from Larry may still be my favorite so far this season.
I make Rose’ from our Grenache. IMO generally much better that the red made from this grape.
But more importantly the ladies love Rose’. If you don’t care about what they think, travel at your own risk.
Larry this can only help drive more people to quality rose and other wine in the long run though. I have friends ordering it like crazy now that it’s in trend instead of minosas or beer, and some of them may well get a taste for better versions.
I also drink a lot of rose in the summer. Way more than reds or whites once it’s 90+. Poolside even whites don’t do it for me. I’m a fan of the light mineral style myself.