Let's Talk Rose
Howard
dry Rose, and have had some limited success, but it is still as
difficult as it has been for many years past to find wines of this ilk.
Most sellers simply point to Zinfandel and tell you that its popularity
in the late 1970's and early 80's had destroyed any market for dry
provincial style Roses in this country, and they are certainly right. A
seller who gets in a non-sweet Rose has two hurdles to overcome, one is
to convince a new market that this is something they might want to try
and prevent the existing Rose market from trying it as they complain
bitterly that the wine is acidic, in other words, not sweet.
I attempted my usual haunts outside of the state who produced little if
nothing worth noting. There was some attempt to get in a different
variety of Rose, but most of them were from Burgundy and not worth
trying. The one provincial out of state Rose was also disappointing.
On the other hand, the Pennsylvania State store in Bryn Mawr produced a
very serviceable Rose. It has a good full non-sweet taste with the very
slight body of most lower end provincial Roses. In other words, its
fabulous hot weather swilling wine, and retails in state for $11.49 a
bottle.
The biscuit is: Commanderie de la Bargemone from Coteax Aix En
Provence, 2005.
I wish that I had found it earlier in the season since I am sure that
if they have not stopped stocking it yet, they will soon, since Rose is
really a summer wine, but I do reccomend it.
The only other Rose that I have been able to find that I really liked
so far this year came from deep down in Virginia, and it's a Rose
Sancerre. It is quite different than the provincial Roses in that it
has some real body to it, and a much fuller taste on both the front and
back of the mouth. On the other side, it has a certain amount of bubble
which probably shouldn't be there, but on the whole the wine is quite
refreshing. However, it's pretty much unattainable unless you are
heading down to Virginia so that's all that I am saying about that.
Have a lovely.
Samuel Checker
seems like a minefield.
(As a digression, when we moved into our house in 2001 a kind neighbor
gave us a bottle of Rose as a housewarming gift. We hung onto it for
at least three years, waiting for someone to say "do you have any
Rose?" but finally gave up and regifted it. Come to think of it, maybe
the neighbors had done the same thing...)
I'd like to try the Provencal stuff and I'll put it on my list. I
note, also, that Moore Brothers has about a half-dozen Roses listed on
their Web site. You can usually trust them to give an accurate
assessment of what they are selling you - more than once I've not
bought something in the store because the sales staff warned me off of
it.