The Rosé Dilemma

Week after week, wine reps bring me tremendously great bottles of wine. Some of them are white. Others red.

Some, believe it or not, are pink.

The problem is that I can't get anybody to try them if it isn't on the tasting. Some wine drinkers want to try it because it's pink. The first thing they ask about a rosé is this: "Is it sweet?" On the flipside, there are some who won't try it because it's pink. To those, I usually try this one: "Pink is a color, not a taste." I like it. It sounds cute. But it never works.

At its best, rosé can offer the luscious red fruit of red wine and the fresh, lean, thirst-quenching vibrancy of white. Doesn't that sound good at this time of year?

I cracked a bottle of Spanish rosé made from garnacha (aka grenache) the other day. Drank it with a light dinner of spring greens with balsamic, dried cherries, almonds and grilled chicken. Heavenly! The bottle of wine, the Artazuri Rosé, was a great deal, to boot!

On behalf of rosé producers (and peddlers) everywhere: give a bottle a try. For about 10 beans, you can have a wonderful bottle of wine.

Greatest Pinot Noir tasting in the history of Dayton ever!

July 28th is going to be EPIC! We're going all out for you Pinot Noir lovers (actually, this is mostly just for my own edification as a Pinot nut) during our tasting that day. I've had this idea for a long time, and I decided to just bite the bullet and go for it.

We'll start with a class Burgundy (the origin of Pinot Noir), specifically a Premier Cru Volnay from Joseph Voillot. Burgundy has a classification system for it's vineyards (not wineries or producers, but the vineyards themselves), and Premier Cru (often written 1er Cru) is the second highest rating available. Grand Cru, the highest designation, is just a little too esoteric for a tasting (though I'm sure you would all love to pay $40 for a 2 ounce taste!). Voillot is a 5th generation boutique winery with vineyards in the villages of Volnay and Pommard, and produces several stunning Pinot Noir bottlings from each village (as well as a crazy value undesignated wine which uses de-classed fruit from a blend of the same holdings).

We'll then compare the Burgundy with a single representative example of quality Pinot from three American AVA's, each of which is considered to be in the top tier of new world Pinot producing regions. We'll taste bottlings from Brewer-Clifton in California's Central Coast, Fred Scherrer in Sonoma and Soter in Oregon's Willamette Valley.

Like I said, EPIC!

We will, of course, do our usual thing every Wednesday and Saturday until then. Here's what we're up to this week.