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OSÉ, MORE THAN ANY OTHER WINE, is considered a seasonal pleasure:
Drink it during the summer, and forget about it for the rest of the
year. Personally, I find that to be a bizarre and, honestly, self-defeating
approach. If you like rosé—and lord knows enough of us do these
days—why not drink it all year round?
You could proffer the “It’s cold out, so why drink/eat cold things?”
argument, but white wines (and ice cream, as far as I’m concerned) know
no seasons, so why should pink ones? However, as with white wines, I
will happily suggest that some rosés are more suited to winter’s chilly
weather than others.
Essentially, leave the delicate wines of Provence to sun and heat, and
start looking for rosés with a little more substance and richness, which also
have the benefit of going well with the heartier foods of winter. Typically
these will be darker in hue, transparent ruby rather than pale pink. They
also may be a touch higher in alcohol (not so bad when it’s freezing out;
maybe Saint Bernards should carry small barrels of robust rosé around their
necks). Note that it’s a fallacy that deeper color means greater sweetness
in rosés; it simply means more contact with the pigmented skins of the
grapes, or possibly grape varieties that are innately more intensely colored
(like Montepulciano, say, or Mourvèdre). All 10 of the wines recommended
here are entirely dry and entirely delicious.
FEBRUARY 2020
2018 EL COTO
RIOJA ROSÉ ($11)
Full of juicy watermelon
and strawberry notes, this
generous, orangey-pink
rosé offers a breath of
summer in the depth of
winter. The color recalls
fresh coho salmon, which
would be an excellent
thing to serve it with, too.
2018 CHÂTEAU DE
MANISSY CUVÉE DES
LYS TAVEL ($17)
The Rhône Valley’s Tavel
appellation is one of France’s
greatest rosé regions, but its
darker, more robust wines
have fallen out of favor com-
pared to nearby Provence’s
paler pink versions. This
strawberry-and-lime-
scented bottling from a 17th-
century estate uses only
organically grown grapes.
2018 FINCA
TORREMILANOS
OJO GALLO ($24)
It’s fair enough to wonder if
this wine is a rosé or actually
a red; it’s a style of Span-
ish wine known as clarete,
typically a dark pink or light
red blend of red and white
grapes (here, Tempranillo
and Albillo). Its vivid fruit
recalls red licorice and blue-
berries, bolstered by the
tannic grip of a light red.
2018 BECKMEN
VINEYARDS PURISIMA
MOUNTAIN VINEYARD
GRENACHE ROSÉ ($25)
Steve Beckmen has been
making impressive wine
in California’s Santa Ynez
Valley since 1994. (He was
also instrumental in making
Beckmen the first biody-
namically certified vineyard
in Santa Barbara County.)
This spicy, red cherry–
scented rosé is a great intro-
duction to his wines.
2018 PURSUED BY BEAR
BLUSHING BEAR ROSÉ
($28)
Washington State may
be more well-known for
substantial Cabernets and
Syrahs than rosés, but this
Mourvèdre-dominated bot-
tling, from winemaker Daniel
Wampfler and actor Kyle
MacLachlan, defies that.
Think notes of orange peel
and earthy spice, with a lus-
cious, round texture.
R
