Tasting Rosés With a Winemaker Who Knows Them Best

Jun 22, 2016 · 14 comments
Sam (<br/>)
When I worked in restaurants pretty much the only rosés available were Tavel or the horrible 'white Zinfandel'.
Tavel is still delightful, but the range of choices that can be purchased and enjoyed now is truly amazing.
And I've found an interesting thing - in the south of France, in the summer, the French have no difficulty in popping an ice cube or three into their glasses of rosé, a practice that I've adopted from time to time, particularly with pichet or BIB (bag in box) wines.
Howard Chase (Villeneuve-lés-Avignon)
Tasting rosés without a mention of Tavel is like tasting blanc de blanc without mentioning Champagne.
Pbilsky (Manchester Center, VT)
The Whispering Angel from the Chateau d'Esclans is an absolute winner!!! PB
Jackson Symes (<br/>)
And where are Left Coast rosés in all of this?
Bill Pendergast (Carmel CA)
Interesting, but why allure us with the tasting of eight rose wines from the region without a more complete list of tasting notes and other info about the wines, or is that coming later?
Tuvw Xyz (Evanston, Illinois)
An excellent eulogy to the much underappreciated rosés. Always to be drank chilled.
Suzanne F (<br/>)
Eulogy? A commendatory oration, to be sure, but hardly for something deceased. Rosés are alive and well, thank you.
Tuvw Xyz (Evanston, Illinois)
To: Suzanne F
Eulogy is given to the living as well as the dead:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eulogy
stimuluspackage (California)
I have always appreciated a lovely bottle of Bandol.
Irish Rose (Florida)
The perfect summer meal: a roast chicken, ripe red tomatoes, and a bottle of Whispering Angel! Magnifique!
famdoc (New York, NY)
"This month in the village of Gordes in Provence, I conducted a tasting of eight rosés from the region for participants on a New York Times trip to Provence. "

Life is tough, isn't it?
Jon (NM)
Most Portuguese rosados and Tuscan rosattos, and even many Spanish rosados, beat almost any France rosé...except the former are much, much cheaper. French rosé is "Much to Do About Nothing."
Marion Cobretti (Porquerolles)
Thanks for the chuckle, but how does one rosé beat another? Does grilled merguez beat oysters on the half shell? Do summer cherries beat summer tomatoes?

It's all a question of taste and preference of course. But, to dismiss an entire country's worth of rosé, based on erroneous assumptions about price no less, is hogwash.
M (Nyc)
Well, Marion, he wasn't exactly comparing sausage to oysters or cherries to tomatoes (cherry tomatoes?), he did compare similar products.