Rosé Time
by Tom Wolf
2023 Bourgueil Rosé
France | Loire
Like every one of Chanteleuserie’s wines, this Bourgueil rosé, from the heart of the Loire Valley, is an overachiever. Creamy, round, and zesty, it bursts with red berries and blood orange. Reserve a place in your next picnic basket for this sunset-hued Cab Franc.
2023 Saint-Chinian Rosé
France | Languedoc-Roussillon
While Bandol may be the French appellation most committed to and closely associated with Mourvèdre, the rugged grape variety can reach spectacular heights all across the south. There are few better examples of this than Mas Champart’s Saint-Chinian rosé, originating one hundred kilometers west of Montpellier. Champart picks the grapes early to capture as much as possible of the wine’s aromas of fresh stone fruit and assorted citrus. Spicy and floral, this bottling will sing alongside pretty much anything off the grill.
2023 Vin de Corse Rosé “Gris de Marquiliani”
France | Corsica
If certain bottles are emblematic of KLWM’s early history—Tempier’s Bandols and Joguet’s Chinons, to name just two—Anne Amalric’s rosé “gris” is one of the essential cuvées that have come to define the second half of our five decades in business. Kermit discovered it about fifteen years ago over lunch at the base of Corsica’s Monte Grosso, in a corner of the island so rural and rugged that cows grazed in the restaurant’s parking lot. It didn’t take long for it to become one of the wines that causes a stir among the staff when it lands in Berkeley.
For starters, it performs a mesmerizing kind of trompe l’œuil: two red grapes, Sciaccarellu and a splash of Syrah, have produced a white wine? No, it’s a rosé, all right, but it has a nearly transparent hue because pressing the grapes very gently draws only the faintest hint of color. I haven’t tasted another vin gris that is so simultaneously weightless, ethereal, and full of character. A gentle wave of peach, melon, and spring flowers rolls over the palate and lingers long past your last sip. As is true every year, it’s a strong contender for Wine of the Summer.