DON'T GO MAKING RULES
“Rosé is more of a summer drink, right?”
We hear it all the time. Even our fearless leader, Randy Kemner, has been known to make observations that he finds drinking rosé as fall begins to roll in just doesn’t give him the same pleasure as it does when the sun is still out at dinnertime and the air is nice and warm. It’s true, rosé is a much revered summer, “porch pounder” and is splashed in about every glass in the south of France, and has come to be the same here. But, does that mean we shouldn’t be drinking rosé all year long?
The massive shipping delays have had our rosés showing up months after they were expected to arrive. Late Friday September 24th we just received a couple of our pre-offer rosés that we tasted and ordered way back in January! They were due for June/July but the quagmire that is the shipping situation had them bobbing about on a huge ship, just waiting to be offloaded.
Before leaving for my weekend la while ago, I grabbed a bottle or two of the new arrivals, just to see how much they had settled since I tasted the tank samples at the beginning of the year. It was around 9:00 p.m. Monday night, there was a chill in the air when I thought to myself, “Self, why not pop the cork on that Loire Valley Saumur 2020 Rosé from Domaine Des Grillemonts that you just got?” And no matter the slight welcoming off fall there was in the air, and no matter how dark it was outside, that freaking rosé was absolutely delightful.
Which was a reminder to me that most of the rosés we get actually do taste a little better when they have lost their braces and settled into a little maturity. I’ve thought that for years now. Not all, but many. So in a way, the delays are kind of a win for some of us.
Look, I am a wine specialist and I have been doing this here thing for 25 years now. I know there are tried and true “Wine Rules” which should be more like suggestions, but not everything is black and white, and the absolute bottom line is, drink what pleases you and never be afraid to try new things.
Saying we shouldn’t drink rosé past Labor Day is just wrongheaded. Saying you don’t like to is all good, but to just assume those wines should hibernate for the rest of the year? Don’t go putting Baby in the corner. Who knows, sipping on a bottle of rosé with your Thanksgiving dinner might just give you…wait for it…the time of your life.
New Rosé Arrivals For Fall:
2020 Chateau Signac Cotes Du Rhone Villages Rosé Cuvee Or $13.99
2020 Grimaud Fleur de Provence Cotes de Provence Rosé $13.99
2020 Antxiola Getariako Txakolina Rosé, Basque Country, Spain $18.99
2020 Saint Roch Cotes De Provence Rosé $15.99
2020 Domaine des Grillemonts Saumur Rosé $16.99
2020 Domaine De La Graveirette Ju De Vie Rhone Valley Rosé $15.99