A Rosé By Any Other Name is...

A Cabernet! This is not your mother's Rosé. You will not find any sweet pink punch here my Luscious Lushes.

Yes, it's true. My favorite Rosé at last night's Pretty in Pink tasting, hosted by my friends at Bottlenotes, was the 2004 Croze Vin d'Une Nuit, Rose of Cabernet Sauvignon.

This wine was a stunning deep rose red color, and really stood out from the lineup of 6 different Rosés. I found intense flavors of strawberry, blood oranges and pink grapefruit with a nice tang. I loved this rose because of its juicy red fruit flavor, but also because of its beautiful color. It was magic in the glass.

Croze gets its amazing color from Cabernet Sauvignon, which is an unusual variety to make rose with. This wine is made in a traditional French style, and the name Vin d'une Nuit means "wine of one night" because the the juice & skins are only soaked for a single day. This is what gives the Croze the amazing color and undertones of a big Cab. This wine is best enjoyed ice cold, since it releases more flavors and aromas as it warms in the glass.

I also particularly enjoyed the 2006 Pretty Sally Rosé, an Australian concoction that was also a deep pink color, although not as ruby as the Croze. The flavors exploded with raspberry & watermelon, with a tinge of strawberry.

Other wines that were being poured were:

• 2006 Sullivan Pink Ink from Napa
  
• 2006 Wild Rock Vin Gris Rosé, a really lovely rose of Pinot Noir from Central Otago
• 2006 Two Wives Rosé, from Napa

The moral of this pink story? Go out and try some pink!

Pretty in Pink

Summer is here (in some parts of the world) and the weather is heating up. This is particularly true in the East Bay, where I happen to spend my weekdays.

Some things I love about summer are:

• -Peaches
• -Tomatos warm from the sun off the vine
• -BBQs
• -and sitting outside on a warm afternoon, sipping a nice dry Rosé wine!

Since there are so many different types of Rosé, I have started to drink more to explore different territories. One of my strategies this year at Family Winemakers is to taste some new ones to add to my cellar list.

As it happens, my friends at Bottlenotes are hosting an event here in San Francisco next week all about Rosé. If you're not familiar with Bottlenotes, they are an online wine club that you can customize to suit your tastes. Each time you recieve a wine, you can rate it, and you get future selections based on these. It's kind of like your suggestions list on Amazon. Pretty cool!

Rosé wines and paired appetizers from the The Little Black Apron Cookbook (purchase from Amazon.com below)

will be served on Thursday, Thursday, August 14 at Jovino on Union.


Click here for details and to make reservations

See you there!