Rose wine – My 14 Favorites

As we move into the summer months, here are my favorite fourteen Rose wines.  Many people think Rose wines are sweet and are not interested in tying them.  A LONG time ago, when Beth and I first started drinking wine, this was true in the US.  The most available Rose choices were Mateus and Lancers, a sparkling Rose sold in a ceramic croc.  They were both more like soda pop than wine.

Things are very different today.  The wine makers in the southern Rhone valley, often called Provence, took some of the delicious red wines that they have made for centuries and pulled off some of the juice after just a short period of time in the tank with the skins and made some delicious Rose wines.  When red wine grapes are pressed, the juices are all clear and you can make white wine from red grapes.  Classic French Champagne is about 1/3 juice from Pinot Noir grapes but only the clear juice is used.  Red wines get their color from the juice being left in the tank after pressing or crushing with the skins for weeks or months.  Most of the flavor in the grapes is stored in the skins and this time “on the lees” lets those flavors and color from the skins be pulled into the juice that is fermented and becomes wine.   In this blog I will use rose to refer to color and capitalize it, Rose, when referring to wine.  As you look across the 14 bottles of Rose in this first picture, you will see lots of variation on the rose color. 

 Most Rose wines, especially the better ones, are not blends of white wine and red wine.  Instead, the period of time where the skins are left in with the juice is shorter so only a little bit of the color is added to the juice, and the resulting wine is rose colored instead of red.  Some of the flavors from the skins is also pulled off so Rose wines often have more complexity and character than many white wines, particularly white wines that sell for under $20.  Sometimes some of the juice from the tanks is pulled off early to make Rose and the rest is left with the skins for the full amount of time the winemaker designates for his red wine.  The result is Rose wines that are as dry as red wines and that have some nice character and flavor.

These 14 wines are all still wines.  There are very good sparkling Rose wines and I mention a few in the discussion of the different wines below.  I thought 14 wines was enough for this post and plan to do a sparkling wine post which will have both white and Rose wines included.

The Cote du Rhone is justifiably known for making some of the best dry red wines from France with Chateauneuf-du-Pape as their star.  Many of the wine makers there decided to pull some of the juice early and make nice dry Rose wines and these Rose wines have become very popular worldwide.  Technically, the Provence region only extends up to the city of Avignon and a big part of the Cote du Rhone is not in Provence.  But many recipes for the food from this region say they are from Provence and that name is often used for Rose wines from all parts of the Cote du Rhone.  If the bottle says either Provence or Cote du Rhone, it likely has a nice dry Rose wine inside.   Costieries de Nimes is just south and west of the Cote du Rhone and also makes some great Rose wines.   If you are a fan of sweet Rose, I suggest you try the wines from the Tavel AOC in the Cote du Rhone. 

As Rose wines from Provence gained popularity, other winemakers around the world took notice and now nice Rose wines are made in virtually every wine region.  Even your top Champagne brands like Cristal, Dom Perignon, and Veuve Clicquot offer Rose versions of the sparkling wine. 

None of your wines should be drunk right out of your refrigerator, which is generally set to about 38°.  This is particularly true for Rose wines since they come from red grapes and have some of the flavors and characteristics of red wines.  I take my white wines out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before pouring them so they are in the 55-58° range.  I take my Rose wine out 45 minutes before pouring to get it to about 60°.  I will also open the Rose wines and leave them in the refrigerator for a few hours so they open up, like a red wine does, and then take them out to get to about 60°. 

While it is great to sip a cool, not cold, Rose on a summer afternoon after a nice round of golf, it is also a very good food wine.  I have no trouble using Rose instead of a white wine with most fish or poultry dishes and I think it is a better choice when the dish is spicy, smoked, or otherwise very flavorful. 

I have organized my list of recommended Rose wines geographically, starting with those from Provence/Cote du Rhone and then those being made in the US, and then other regions of the world. 

Rhone Valley Rose

Guigal Cotes du Rhone Rose – Robert Parker has called the Guigal brothers the best wine makers in France and they are the largest in the Rhone valley.  Very few winemakers have a significant presence in both the Cote du Rhone in the southern part of the valley making great GSM blends of red wine and in the Cote Roti at the northern part of the valley making great wines out of Syrah with a little Viognier sometimes added.  If you want to see why people got excited about Provence Rose, spend the $16-18 and get a bottle of the Guigal.   It is dry with some of the flavors of the 70% Grenache, 20% Cinsault, and 10% Syrah grapes used to make it, giving some nice character. 

Domaine de la Solitude Cote du Rhone Rose – This wine wins the title of the very good Rose that is the hardest to find.  I originally got it from Wine.com but they have been out of stock on it every time I look.  The two major wine stores in the DC area don’t carry it.  I believe it is a pretty small vineyard in the Cote du Rhone and it appears they quickly sell out every year.  The last price I saw for it is was $20.  If you ever see it, buy some!

Vidal-Fleury Cotes De Rhone Rose – Vidal-Fleury is the oldest continuing grower in the Rhone Valley but does not have the name recognition that Guigal has.  Different vinification processes are used for the 50% Cinsault, the 30% Syrah, and the 20% Grenache giving excellent minerality and a very nice finish.  $16-18 and not as easy to find as the Guigal but definitely worth getting if you find it. 

Chateau Pesquie Terrasses Rose – The designation “Cote du Rhone” means that all of the grapes in that wine were grown in the specific geographic region that is defined as Cote du Rhone.  Within that large region smaller geographic areas have been defined as higher quality than just Cote du Rhone.  The most famous of these is Chateauneuf-du-Pape and some of the 301 vineyards in that AOC do make Rose.  But not at a price that I am willing to pay.  The Taval AOC mentioned above is another one where they focus more on sweeter Roses.   Chateau Pesquie is in the Ventoux AOC and the Chateau Pesquie red wine is one of my favorites for under $20.   Their Rose is also one of the standard wines we keep in my cellar.  It is not as widely carried as the Guigal Rose but many Total Wine stores carry it and Wine.com usually has it in stock.  $18-20.

Mi Mi en Provence Grande Reserve – This is available as both a still Rose and as a sparkling wine.  I enjoy both.  It is also a blend of Grenache, Cinsault, and Syrah and sells for $16-20. 

L’Arlesienne Les Baux de Provence – A very nice Rose, this blend has more Syrah than Grenache and a little Cinsault.  A very good buy at $14 but not easy to find.

Cateau Montaud Cotes De Provence Rose – At $14-15 this is one of the least expensive Provence Rose’s and while not at the level of the top four wines above, it is a very good wine at that price.

Rose Wines Made in the US

Willamette Valley Vineyards (WVV) Whole Cluster Rose – this is my favorite US Rose.  I am a huge fan of the WVV Whole Cluster Pinot Noir where they harvest whole clusters of Pinot Noir grapes and drop them into stainless steel flasks, add yeast, and pump in CO2 to remove all the air and seal them closed.  The grapes ferment inside the skin and eventually burst as the yeast gives off CO2.  I think this is the best $25 Pinot Noir from anywhere in the world.  Jim Bernau, their winemaker, pulls off some of the juice early and makes this delightful rose.  It has a clear Pinot Noir aroma and taste and generally sells for $20-22.   WVV has a number of very good Rose wines, the Whole Cluster is my favorite.

Coppola Sofia – Academy Award winning director Francis Ford Coppola has a very significant wine business under his name, and I am a pretty big fan of his wine.  He named his Rose Sofia after his daughter who is also an Academy Award winning movie director.  He makes both a still and a sparkling version of Sofia.  I prefer the still version.  It is widely available and can be ordered from his winery web site and shipped to most states.  It generally sells for $14-16 and has an attractive bottle. 

Chateau Ste. Michelle Rose – This is from Washington State and is 55% Syrah, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Grenache.  Chateau Ste. Michelle does make a number of sweet wines, primarily their Rieslings, but they also make excellent dry crisp wines, and this is one of them.  A couple of reviews called it a dry wine with a little subtle sweetness.  I did not get any of that sweetness.  $9-12 at most retail stores but much more if ordered from the vineyard website or if you visit their HQ outside of Seattle.  They keep their prices high to protect their retailers. 

Menage a Trois Rose – As mentioned in my earlier blog post on Red Wines Under $15, Menage A Trois makes some nice table wines in the $10-12 range.  I like them more than the other bulk producers like Barefoot, Dark Horse, or Cupcake.  This is definitely true for the Rose at $6-12.  Nothing wrong with sipping some of this Rose at the end of a nice day at the beach. 

Rose Wine From Other Geographies

Guado al Tasso Scalabrone – Guado al Tasso is owned by Antinori and is my favorite winery in Tuscany.  Their Bolgheri Superiore is one of the few wines I will pay over $100 for.  They are located down in the Bolgheri Valley, right on the coast of the Med where their terroir is unlike most of Tuscany and so they do not make any of the typical Sangiovese based wines that Tuscany is best known for.  This Scalabrone is named for a bandit who roamed that valley in the 18^th century.  Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and touch of Syrah are used to make this wine, so it has a delightful taste different from the Grenache/Cinsault blends from the Rhone valley.  It is absolutely worth the $16-18 price. 

Domaine Guillaman  Cotes de Gascogne Rose – Domaine Guillaman is best known for its nice crisp white wine from Gascony.  If you see the Rose, it is a Best Buy at $12. 

Trader Joe’s Les Portes de Bordeaux Rose – Two Buck Chuck is now about $3.50 last time I looked but it is a very small section of the wine aisle at the Trader Joe’s that have a liquor license to sell wine.  Some geographies do not let them sell wine.  Among the many other selections that Trader Joe’s carries are the Les Portes de Bordeaux wines for $7-8.  There is a decent white and an OK red but the best of the three, when they have it on the shelf, is the Rose.  It is made in Bordeaux and imported into the US.  I have only seen these wines at Trader Joe’s so they may have an exclusive to buy all the wines under that label. 

I hope you have a chance to try some of these 14 Rose wines and let me know what you think of them.  If you have others that I should try, tell me about them in Comments. 

What is my favorite Rose?  It is a three-way tie since each of these three is delicious but different in taste from the other two: Guigal Rose, WVV Whole Cluster Pinot Noir Rose, and the Guado al Tasso Scalabrone.  If I could get more of the Domaine La Solitude, it might get into contention.