Pierre Pallaird Les Terres Roses XVII Extra Brut
Grand Cru Bouzy. Base 2017 PN 36%, Chard 64%. Disgorged 6/21. 2 g/l.
Beautiful peach color. Rich, explosive nose of dough, grapefruit, and lime. Strong mousse. Very tart yet with a lush, silky texture. Really delicious stuff. I had ordered the XVIII and the retailer sent me one bottle of the XVII by mistake. No worries.
2020 Bedrock Ode to Lulu
Nice medium body with hints of salmon orange in the coloring. Raspberry and floral notes abound around a core of lemon pith, stone fruit, and a hint of sea grass. I could drink this all day every day in the summer. With snow outside the window, it proved a nice pairing with the cheese course.
Atta boy. Bitchen note.
Paul, it’s about 24 degrees here with the wind chill - not exactly the kind of weather where I’m looking to open a rose’, but it’s for a good cause. Over the years, I have probably consumed more Pibarnon than any other rose’. This is also one of the very few rose’ wines that can actually benefit from a little bottle age, although this is still pretty delicious on release.
The “normale” is a blend of 65% mourvedre and 35% cinsault - that’s the bottle on the left side of the photo. Their “riserva”, which is called Nuances, is 100% Mourvedre and it’s also aged for some period in Stockinger casks, which somewhat resemble amphora. To me it gives the Nuances wine a creamier feel on the palate, which may or may not be what you’re looking for in a rose’, but I happen to like both versions.
*&^#@!@#%@!!!
I try so hard to ignore all of the follow-ups to Frank’s original brilliant idea, but…
So I’m not matching this time, but will try open two more over the next two days.
I import the ones I’ll be opening, so my tasting notes are going to be reticent. It’s going to be hard not to shill!
2021 Bargemone Rose Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence - pale to medium salmon color. The aromas are nicely intense (low yields in 2021), with notes of wild strawberry and a hint of watermelon. The palate manages the nice trick of being both broad and zingy. The finish is quite long for any wine, especially the pink stuff.
Thank you Paul for your support of this wonderful charity. I am continually awed by the courage of so many doctors who have worked so hard for their degrees and do so much good in their regular lives. To then voluntarily put themselves to discomfort and so often into harm’s way humbles me.
Dan Kravitz
Thanks for this - I need to get in to Bandol more. The 2020 “normale” is a bit pricey here, but I can get the 2019 at a slightly better price - I guess that would be still good?
One of my points of picking rosé is that although of course it’s great in summer, I find it an all-year wine in its more complex less overtly “fruity” forms. Over the last year our consumption of rosé (still+sparkling) has almost exactly equalled our consumption of reds, although whites (still+sparkling) are the majority.
Yes indeed. Obviously plenty of people agree since they are funded almost entirely by private individual donations (eschewing state or corporate funding to avoid any perception of influence), but it’s a big operation (including quite a few doctors from my home of Hong Kong volunteering) and we need to keep that money flowing in.
Another day, another rosé!
For me this works as a food wine any time of year - we’re enjoying it this evening with some Thai dishes. It’s 100% Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.
And indeed a second Italian rosé for the day - this one a much paler Monferrato Chiaretto that we drink often; this one also going well with Thai food. Here’s an earlier TN:
And that’s about it for me for rosés this week (I have a rosé-free appointment tomorrow).
Two Roses from this weekend:
Stars & Dust Crowded Table 2021
Central Coast CA
52% Mourvèdre & 48% Grenache, 100% neutral barrel
Salmon color. Strawberry, peach, and orange/orange rind. There’s also an earthy note I can’t place. Nice acidity. More serious than the next option.
Boschendal The Rosé Garden 2021
South Africa, $6.99 @ Costco
Lighter salmon color. Subtle strawberry, fresh good acidity, not a long finish. An uncomplicated crowd-pleasing wine perfect for a hot afternoon on the patio.
2021 Bedrock Wine Co. Ode to Denise - USA, California, Sierra Foothills, Amador County (12/16/2022)
Faint color, mix between orange and salmon. White flowers and stone fruit on the nose. On the palate, more of the same fruit, just a hint of zin spice, and a pleasant streak of citrusy bitterness. Good structure, medium plus acidity, medium body, medium alcohol. Ready to drink now, but has years ahead - did not observe much difference on day two. Like the wine, and the story behind it even more.
2021 Sandar & Hem Grenache Rosé Bates Ranch Santa Cruz Mountains
Joyful yet serious. This has all the usual crowd pleasing aspects of a Grenache-based wine, with plenty of elegance and complexity. Very refreshing, red berry fruit. Medium plus acidity, medium body, medium alcohol. Really nice complement to Mole Negro. Made by a fellow board member from one of my all time favorite vineyards.
I make that US$177 so far. Between 5 and 24 hours left (depending on where you are) to get a little more out of my wallet and on its way to Médecins Sans Frontières…
I am the importer of this wine.
Paler in color than usual for this bottling, the flavors and texture are reminiscent of Roses from Spain, 30 miles south. There is a panoply of red fruit aromas with a distinctly earthy touch. The palate is unusually broad and mouth-coating, although this does not lack for acidity. There are herbal, almost scrub-like touches in the mid-palate, making it nicely piquant despite the obvious heft.
Dan Kravitz
Benoit Marguet NV Shaman 13 Rose
Very clean, crisp and linear. High acid. Very low or no dosage. Mostly strawberry on the nose with a bit of apple. Strawberry, raspberry on the palate with a hint of stone fruit. Peach or apricot maybe.
OK, with everywhere on earth now into the 22nd, I’ll call that a wrap.
Thanks very much to all who contributed through their tasting notes and thoughts on rosés. I calculate that the postings here add up to US$197.
It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge @Jim_Anderson and @Richard_T_r_i_m_p_i who recognised the effort by committing to donate money to MSF (and abstaining from and drinking rosés respectively), but who declined to join this thread because we have differences of opinion regarding Covid and various authorities’ responses to it. (No, I don’t follow that logic either, but it’s all in a good cause.) So I’ll add a bit more on their behalf, and call it US$250 in total.
Here’s a screenshot of their email acknowledging receipt:
