It was a warm summer day in Grasse, late June in the south of France. I had celebrated a significant birthday the evening before at La Bastide Saint-Antoine, a Michelin-starred restaurant attached to the Relais & Chateau hotel by the same name.
Lunch was being served on the lawn behind the restaurant, the Mediterranean Sea barely visible in the distance. Every table was occupied. And every table, or so it seemed, had a bottle of rose chilling in a bucket of ice.
At the time, my impression of most rose wines was anything but favorable. Too fruity or too watery, but always too sweet. Nevertheless, I decided to do what the French do when the temperature rises. I ordered a bottle of rose recommended by the waiter.
The wine selected was Domaines Ott, perhaps the most famous and respected rose in the world. It was dry, crisp, complex, delicious. It was the turning point in my appreciation of rose, a wine usually made from red grapes with little or no skin contact during fermentation, which typically results in a pale pink or onion-skin color.
As a summer refreshment, rose is splendid, but dry rose wines also pair well with seafood, salads, grilled chicken and an assortment of savory tapas and cheeses.
My current favorites include three from France, one from Spain (where rose is called rosado) and one from California. The prices listed are the average retail price from WineSearcher.com.
Chateau d’Esclans 2015 Whispering Angel, Cotes de Provence, France ($21) – Pale in color but robust in flavor, with crisp, refreshing acidity.
Domaines Ott 2015 ‘By Ott,’ Cotes de Provence, France ($21) – This is a second wine for Domaines Ott and considerably less expensive than its top wine. That said, this creamy rose is a beautiful match with smoked salmon or savory tapas.
Eberle Winery 2015 Syrah Rose, Paso Robles ($19): The first wine made by the new winemaker, Chris Eberle (no relation to winery owner Gary Eberle) is balanced, delicate and dry and is sweeping top awards at major California wine competitions.
Gerard Bertrand 2015 ‘Cote de Roses,’ Languedoc, France ($15) – From one of the Languedoc’s top wine producers, Cotes de Roses is beautifully structured, showing crisp acidity and enticing notes of strawberry and a pale pink color.
Muga 2015 Rioja Rosado, Spain ($13) – The bargain of the bunch, Muga is produced from grapes harvested in the Rioja Alta, at some elevation on the Atlantic side of the Rioja region, which gives the wine freshness and balance. Unlike the other four, which are made exclusively from Rhone grapes such as grenache, syrah, mourvedre and cinsault, Muga is a blend of tempranillo, the white grape viura and garnacha (aka grenache.)
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