Another day, another Rosé Day? 

YES! Especially when it is summer time and grill time!

Here’s six — from bubbles to sweet from six countries around the world– for you to consider today or for International Rosé Day, celebrated on the fourth Friday each June. Also, of the six, two are kosher and two are organic, and the grapes range from pinot noir to tempranillo to grenache to Zweigelt and more!

National Rosé Day, as you may recall, is the second Saturday of June, and we featured wines from the Finger Lakes. During #RoseAllDay #AllMay and Oregon Wine Month, we went with wines from Oregon. Last year we went local with Ventura County wineries, while another year we compared France with Lodi paired with fresh fish. We like this pink drink and appreciate how well it pairs with food.

Today we’re heading out around the world: starting with France with a toast with sparkling wine, then moving on to Argentina, California, Austria, Spain, and ending up in Italy with a sweet version paired with Sue’s cajun spiced grilled fish tacos.

 

From FRANCE:
NV La Vieille Ferme Reserve Rosé  France
12% alcohol; SRP $15
Sample for my review consideration.
Sparkling!

This blend of 40% Grenache noir, 40% Cinsault, and 20% Pinot Noir is a fun affordable sparkling wine from France that’s widely available and large production. They also make still wines but we went for festive bubbles! Learn more here.

Color: Rose gold, not quite copper.

Nose: There is a breadiness to it, a bit sour like a sour salmon berry, sour beer.

Palate: Sweet tart, pink sweet tarts, nice fizz. Bread, yeast, strawberry danish, nice creaminess.

Pairing: We had this wine with cajon spiced fish tacos, and while the flavors went well together, the bubbles bring out the heat a bit more which you may love or may not like.

From ARGENTINA
2019 Domaine Bousquet Rosé  Tupungato Uco Valley Mendoza
12.5% alcohol SRP $12
Sample for my review consideration.
Organic!

This blend of organic grapes consists of 45% Malbec, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Pinot Gris grown at 4,000′ — high above the desert heat where the night’s cool air allows the grapes to develop acid in balance with fruit.

Domaine Bousquet is committed to organic and sustainable practices because, as Anne Bousquet says:

“By nourishing the land and treating it with respect, we know that the land will give us back its finest fruits.”

• Read more about Domaine Bousquet here.
• Read what else we’ve said about this line here.
• Read what we said about their organic line Gaia here.

Color: Peachy

Nose: More minerals than fruit and floral, subtle nose, slightly sulphuric, clay, lots of earth.

Palate: Light clean refreshing, raspberry and cherry fruit on the finish, essence of fresh fruit.

Pairing: Pool side sipper, please! While my first pairing choice would not be fish tacos with this wine, it did fine. Sue felt this would be better with grilled cheese sandwiches, or even oysters. The flavors of the sea would marry well with this wine, but so would a ham sandwich or a smoked ham dinner.

From Austria:
2017 Pratsch Rosé of Zweigelt, Niederösterreich
11.5% alcohol; SRP $13
Sample for my review consideration.
Organic! 

At first I admit I thought this wine was made from organic Niederösterreich grapes, but the truth is that that’s the region and it’s made from 100% Zweigelt. Clearly I need to improve my game in terms of Austrian wine! And if this wine is any indication, it will be well worth the effort!

Color: Pretty pink, peach skin.

Nose: Minerals, melon, wild strawberry; much more fruit than floral.

Palate: Melon, long lingering finish, generous acidity, strawberry, cucumber. People have been talking about Rose from Austria; we can see why.

Pairing: Great with our fish taco meal. The spicy food played well off of the fruit and melon flavors of the wine. The wine tamed the spice in the food and the food brought out the fruit elements in the wine. I loved this also with sushi.

John: “mmmmm, so good”

If you see this in a restaurant, get a glass!

From Spain:
2017 Elvi Wines Vina Encina Rosado
13% alcohol; SRP $10
Sample for my review consideration.
Kosher!

From the La Mancha region of Spain, this kosher wine is made from 100% Tempranillo

Color: Deeply hued pink rose with a bit of salmon, Myr felt it was like the flesh of fresh plums.

Nose: Cherry starburst, citric acid, raspberry.

Palate: Very light in body, nice intensity of fruit flavor at the back of the palate as well as silty minerals. This is a very clean light wine. Light florals, wild lavender, lavender lemonade. The fruit finish hangs on for a while. This is a dry wine, it is not very fruit forward but the fruit is there. There is also melon characteristics as well as lemon.

Pairing: Particularly good with the spicy Spanish rice!

From California:
2017  Herzog Lineage Rosé Clarksburg CA
13.5% alcohol
Kosher!
Sample for my review consideration.

Herzog is located in Oxnard, California, and they ship in the grapes from all over California to process them here near where we live. A few years ago, Sue and I took a tour and tasted with the winemaker which you can read about here.

Color: Deeply hued pink, rose mauve in the glass.

Nose: Exhuberant, unabashed. This is a very expressive wine with river rock, moss, plum, fresh plum. John felt it smelled like oysters, like the smell of the ocean with tide pools and algae. We also found a bit of melon on the cucumber side or a cantaloupe.

Palate: Very fruit forward, round, luscious.

Pairing: John says, “It goes with the tacos!”

From Italy:
NV Castello Del Poggio Sweet Rosé
7% alcohol; SRP $13.
Sample for my review consideration.
Sweet! Tech sheet here.

At the end of dinner, it’s nice to have something a bit sweet to drink with dessert or instead of dessert, and this sweet pink drink just might be it! It would also work well as a mixer for a cocktail.

The low alcohol on this wine also makes it great for the end of the evening — or the beginning of one!

Color: Salmon color with a bit of effervescence.

Nose: Silt, clay earth, sweetness of the early morning garden when the earth is damp. By the nose, John thought this was a white wine.

Palate: Strawberry lemonade with a hint of lemonade. For Sue it reminded her of a muscat. The bubbles keep the wine more lively on the palate. The silkiness is there on the palate as well. This would be a great cocktail wine. You can put it on ice and find it very refreshing.

Pairing: Myr wanted this wine with a prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe with balsamic reduction. I could imagine this with spicy foods, and indeed, John felt is was “super good” with our spicy fish tacos: “it totally cancels out the pepper spice in the food.” Myr felt “this wine needed no pairing; it was delightful on its own.” Sue made a fruit tart, and the sweet of the tart and the wine really complimented each other. The sweetness in the wine made the dessert less sweet.

Cheers to the pink drink and to summer sipping! What’s in your glass?