City of Rosés

Well I'm behind in posts. I've attended some brilliant tastings and notes run amuck. Because of this I will probably have another posting this week alone. I am trying to get the wine word out. :)

Portland is well known as the City of Roses… however, after escaping some very hot weather recently; and having used the occasion to have a few different rosé, I think I live in the city of Rosés. Portland is already a wine friendly town but I am impressed with number of different rosé I have seen. I’m not even close to trying one quarter of what I have seen. I have had a few new ones since my last rosé posting though, as well as a couple repeats so I wanted to send out an update.

Vallescuro Tempranillo Rosé 2007 – This is a solid built, muscular, rosé. If you haven’t had rosé, or not many, this wine definitely has some push to it for the type of wine. Very dark red raspberry color in the bottle and glass but still completely translucent as rosé are. The nose contained a lot of strawberry and raspberry fruit, with a touch of some sort of spice. On the palate, its strawberry mouth fill I thought would be all I might find upon first taste. As it progressed however, some spice tingled the front of my tongue before moving back to the middle with a very chalky and moderate length finish. It reminded me of the swirling dust off erasers cleaning chalkboard. The mouth-feel is fat and round for a rosé. I had with some Mexican food and it matched well. To be a bit bold, this wine has cajones, which one of my tasting friends is all for. Take a swirl, sip, and hold on to this forward and fresh rosé. $

Cameron Vino Pinko 2007 Rosé – Ah yes the rosé with Che Guevara on the label that made a local conservative radio host angry. Cameron has been releasing this slightly controversial labeled rosé for a few years now; however, this is my first time tasting it. A blend of 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Pinot Munier, it is airy colored in the bottle and glass… the lightest shade of pink imaginable like an ocean haze enhanced sunset. The nose is light and bright dried strawberries and acidity – dry strawberry cologne in a glass. It is very light and a bit racy. Once in the mouth, it was freeze dried strawberry flavors at onset that swirled to a citric acid flavor and feel. There is long acidity to this wine and it finished far back on the palate with a dry slate dust taste that still had remnants of fruit blended in. I would love to try this with Cuban food! The tastes change seeminly at will and from taster to taster, another maddeningly great wine from John Paul. $

J.M. Raffault Cabernet Franc Chinon Rosé 2007 – If you haven’t had French rosé I think you really should. That said there are crazy numbers of French rosé in different styles with different grapes. However, if you have a grape or vintner you like from France see if they produce a rosé. That is how and why I picked up the Raffault rosé. If you see my prior posts on the Raffault Chinon I truly dove into the glass. When I saw his rosé, I simply knew I wanted to try it.
This rosé is a steelhead or trout flesh pink color in the glass and bottle, but bright and clear. As with Cab Franc varietals, there can be salad or vegetal quality in the nose and this rosé did not disappoint. The aroma certainly had ripe strawberries, but they blended with a green jalapeno pepper scent. I very much enjoyed the blend of fruit and spicy green in the aroma. Tastes were very dry fruit at front, but also I found this is a bracing, acid filled rosé. It’s squeaky clean and its white pepper and mineral driven finish I impressed me as a long but delicate palate cleanser. Paired with grilled leaks and squash it was simply a wonderful sipper and an instant reason to repeat with a number of other French rosé. $

Grochau Cellars (G.C.) Pink – The people’s rosé. Did you read my prior notes on G.C Pink? I called it the friendliest rosé I’ve had. This is a Pinot Noir rosé in its first year of release. I had the fortune of having again recently and it still is very friendly and very popular with tasters. There have been some changes to the wine since last tasted in June. The nose was a bit dirtier with a light air of wind through straw and farmhouse in a hot summer. The strawberries are also still there but the wine smells a bit darker and more structured. In the mouth, I was greeted with big plump strawberry and cherry as expected and plenty of a glycerin mouth-feel but with a bit of a toast tip or french toast air maybe I confused with more in the nose than on the palate. The finish had some decent tannin feel with a nice bright acidity that washed the back of the mouth. One other taster mentioned blindfolded I wouldn’t have known this was G.C. Pink nor maybe even rosé. An interesting thought that she may be right about; it would be fun to try that with what I still consider the people’s rosé, with something for everyone. $

Personally I will drink a rosé any time of year but as this weekend some do consider the official end of summer it’s the perfect time to take that extra day and wander to your local wine shop in the city of Rosés.