Rosé: Articles

May

11

West Coast Book Tour Wine & Travel Adventures: Sarver Winery

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One of the great things about a West Coast Book Launch Tour (for my new book, KeeKee’s Big Adventures in Paris, France) was the great travel and wine experiences to be had…from Washington to Oregon to California!

After Washington, we hit Oregon and THE region for Pinot Noir in the U.S….Willamette Valley. Sarver Winery was our stop outside Eugene as they hosted our Oregon launch event.

We had story times and activities for the kids, and the adults enjoyed the fabulous wines and beautiful vistas at this family owned winery. It’s the perfect family destination with Erin and Chris as wonderful hosts.

Elhanan Vineyard at Sarver Winery was established in 1984 as one of the first growers of premium Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris grapes in the southern Willamette Valley. Chris and Erin took it over in winter 2008.

At the end of our event, I was able to taste through their incredible wine line up…2011 Estate Stainless Pinot Gris, 2011 Estate Barrel-Aged Pinot Gris, 2012 Pinot Noir Rosé (bottle and on tap), 2010 Estate Grown Pinot Noir, 2009 Cuvée (blend of Syrah, Grenache, Petite Syrah), 2011 Gewürztraminer, 2011 Estate Riesling and 2007 Porto “Syrato.” Truly all the wines were outstanding, but I had to pick a few to take home …

Sarver Winery 2011 Estate Stainless Pinot Gris

  • Variety: 100% Pinot Gris
  • Aroma: Floral, citrus
  • Taste: White flowers, lemongrass
  • Price: $15.00
  • My thoughts: You can’t beat a Pinot Gris from Oregon and this is the perfect example!

Sarver Winery 2012 Pinot Noir Rosé

  • Variety: 100% Pinot Noir
  • Aroma: Summer berries
  • Taste: Strawberry, raspberry with hints of earthiness
  • Price: $19.00
  • My thoughts: This was my favorite! They were serving it from the bottle and on tap, giving it a little CO2 and effervescence…fun but I preferred it straight from the bottle. Perfect for the start of summer!

With summer coming, I went with these, but I will definitely be ordering their Estate Grown Pinot Noir for Autumn!

Special thank you to Wine Julia for the suggestion, coordination and all the promotion!

Cheers to Sarver Winery, the amazing Pinot Noir they are growing, and the Willamette Valley!

More to come from the West Coast Book Tour Wine & Travel Adventures.

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Nov

19

Thanksgiving Perfect Wine Pairings

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There are no shortage of wine recommendations out there for what to serve with your Thanksgiving feast. Rather than sharing a lengthy list (I stick by my list from last year), I thought I’d share what I’m serving (or bringing to friends, as is our tradition) this year.

Sparkling & Rosé

This is a great way to start the Thanksgiving festivities. My choice in both categories is my favorite Sonoma winery discovered last December, VJB Vineyards & Cellars. Both wines just arrived in their new tasting room when I visited again last month.

  • Sparkling: The new VJB Prosecco is produced in the Valdobbiadene district near Veneto, Italy and is imported directly. It’s a dry, light-bodied, sparkling wine with a refreshing aroma of apples, citrus and flowers and well-balanced acidity ($28).
  • Rosé: VJB Le Due Rosé, 2011 Tempranillo Rosé is full of strawberry and watermelon with nice spice and tannin. Not your typical Rosé, it’s perfect with Thanksgiving ($24).

White

Depending on your mood and preference, you can go with white wines…

Red

Depending on your mood and preference, you can go with red wines…

  • Beaujolais Village: Unlike Beaujolais Nouveau, this Louis Jadot 2011 has been aged. While still 100% Gamay grape variety, it has more structure with notes of dark red fruit and spice. And it’s a great value ($10).
  • Pinot Noir: This is my special wine for Thanksgiving this year, picked up in Oregon this summer, Pfeiffer Winery 2007 Pinot Noir Blue Dot Reserve. Pinot Noir is a perfect red for Thanksgiving, especially one that has aged perfectly. Pfeiffer’s 2007 is also called the Presidential Pinot as it was chosen to be served at Blair House as part of Obama’s 2009 pre-Inauguration festivities.

For more recommendations, here are resources I use…

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Aug

10

Loire Valley Sancerre Rosé Finally Found

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My first discovery of Pascal Jolivet wine was in Paris for my Mom’s 60th birthday. We had their lovely Sancerre Blanc at Brasserie Bofinger (5-7 rue de la Bastille), Paris’ oldest brasserie since 1864. And since, I order it whenever I can.

Last summer, I saw online they make a Sancerre Rosé. As a Rosé lover, I had to try it. For some reason it eluded me until a few weeks ago finally turning up at Cork & Fork in Washington, DC.

Provence is the most commonly thought of Rosé producer in France, but being Sancerre and Pascal Jolivet, this comes from the Loire Valley.

Pascal Jolivet Sancerre Rosé 2011

  • Variety: 100% Pinot Noir
  • Aroma:Bright red fruit with floral notes
  • Taste: Soft cherry and dry notes
  • Price: $25
  • My thoughts: I must say after all the searching for this wine it didn’t quite live up to my expectations especially for the price. It was overall soft and dry without much oomph. Having said that my friends and I enjoyed the bottle as an aperitif on a hot day.

I would highly recommend Pascal Jolivet Sancerre Blanc. It’s a gem and worth the price (usually $12-$15)! With vineyards in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume, they are one of the youngest wineries in the Loire Valley. They make many different wine labels under the Pascal Jolivet brand. Next I need to try their Pouilly-Fume.

Santé!

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Aug

08

Cork Wine Bar DC: Not Your Typical Rosé Flight

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Over the last few weeks, I’ve tried several new Rosés at local wine bars. The HOT summer makes it perfect Rosé weather.

Visiting Cork Wine Bar in DC, I tried this interesting Rosé flight…

  • Schlossgut Diel Rosé Diel 2011, Nahe wine region of Germany: Made of Pinot Noir, or Spätburgunder as it’s called in Germany, this is a nice full-bodied wine with plum, pepper and spice notes. Not your typical notes in a Rosé.
  • Hexamer Spätburgunder Weissherbst Halbtrocken 2010, Nahe region of Germany: This wine is very pale in color, almost a yellow-green and didn’t look like a Rosé at all. With pear and lime notes, it actually got sweeter the wine became more room temperature.
and my favorite…

Heidi Schröck Rosé Biscaya 2011

  • Variety: Merlot, Pinot Noir and Syrah from Austria
  • Aroma: floral and red fruit
  • Taste: Rich dark red berry and white tea with a minerality finish
  • My thoughts: This is a lovely complex Austrian Rosé made in the Bandol style (Provence, France). Check out her website as Heidi looks like a very cool winemaker!

These were three very interesting and different Rosé styles. It’s neat to see all the different things winemakers can do with Rosé. As I’ve said before, give pink another think. :)

Cheers to Rosé!

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Aug

04

Screwtop Wine Bar: Every Rosé Has Its Thorn

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It’s hot which is perfect Rosé weather as it’s light, crisp and refreshing wine, and a pretty pink shade. Over the last few weeks I’ve tried several new Rosés at local wine bars.

Last night I finally visited Screwtop Wine Bar in Clarendon, a neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia. Their motto…drink what you like. So I had Rosé from the Every Rosé Has Its Thorn line up…one from Germany, France and Austria.

  • Villa Wolf Pinot Noir Rosé 2011, Pfalz, Germany
  • Mittelbach Zweitgeit 2011, Burgenland-Austria: Round strawberry taste
  • Chinon Rosé Cabernet Franc 2011, Loire Valley, France: Heaviest in body of the three with a tart cranberry taste

My favorite of the bunch…

Villa Wolf Pinot Noir Rosé 2011

  • Variety: Pinot Noir from Pfalz, Germany
  • Aroma: Crisp berty
  • Taste: Bright zippy cranberry and raspberry
  • Price: $12.99
  • My thoughts: This was my favorite Rosé because of its fruit forward taste with a truly zippy finish. The wine is a J.L. Wolf, part of the Dr. Loosen wine family. Ernst Loose’ s goal at J.L. Wolf is to make powerful, traditionally crafted Pfalz wines (drier and more full bodied Rieslings as well as Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Gewürztraminer and Silvaner. ) to complement his lighter Dr. Loosen wines from the Mosel (Rieslings that are higher alcohol and ripe flavors of fruit and stone).

Screwtop is featuring German wines throughout August including this one. I really enjoyed our time at Screwtop. More to come on it in an upcoming series, What Makes a Great Wine Bar?

Prost to Rosé!

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