The Summer’s Best New Rosé Wines
2023 Vara New Mexican Rosé ($19) : At this pioneering winery, the first rosé from New Mexico-grown grapes blends 70% cabernet sauvignon with 30% refosco. It shows that a juicy, savory pink wine can emerge even from a harsh desert climate.
2021 Fiol Prosecco Rosé Extra Dry ($18): I sampled this just-launched, sophisticated, light coral-pink wine last week. It’s smoother and more subtle than most rosé proseccos, with berry and floral aromas and a soft, salty-fruit taste. Perfect pool drinking at only 11% alcohol.
2021 Mallea Vineyards Rosé of Grenache ($20): Check out the label on this lively rosé with cherry-ish flavors from a new, small Santa Barbara, California, collaboration between viticulturalist Erik Mallea and winemaker Justin Willet; they aim to produce Rhône varietals from organic grapes. The label art echoes the messages Basque shepherds in the American West carved into tree bark in the 19th and 20th centuries.
NV Missing Thorn by Aaron Pott Sparkling Rosé Alcohol-Removed Wine ($24): Super pleasurable to sniff and sip! A new line of nonalcoholic wines created by veteran Napa winemaker Aaron Pott has debuted. The sparkling rosé boasts rose petal, citrus and brioche aromas that remind me of older vintages of Champagne. The taste is succulent and citrusy, with a long finish.
2022 Ousyra Fokiano Rosé Cyclades ($24): This charming, organic Greek rosé is made at a boutique winery on Syros, one of the Aegean Islands. The name of the winery means happiness. Richly fruity, it’s made from rare indigenous fokiano grapes grown on the island of Naxos.
2023 The Language of Yes Les Fruits Rouge Pink Wine of the Central Coast ($28): Ever inventive California winemaker Randall Grahm began a partnership with Gallo with the 2020 vintage, but this 2023 is only the second vintage of his pale pink, easy to drink cinsaut- and grenache-based rosé. Think of it as a spicy California version of Provence pinks, with aroma notes of dried herbs.
2022 Maugeri Contrada Volpare Etna Rosato ($30): Sicily’s trendy Mount Etna region is noted for reds, but this new, exciting winery project focuses on rosé and whites. The striking, coppery colored rosato from a single vineyard is light and vivid and also shows wonderfully complex flavors of salty minerals, fresh herbs and ethereal fruit. Pair with grilled salmon.
2023 Ridge Lytton Estate Rosé ($35): This isn’t new. But until very recently, practically no one (including me) knew that this winery, famous for its stunning Monte Bello cabernet, made a rosé. The blend of grenache, zinfandel, Mataro, cinsaut and counoise from Ridge’s estate in Sonoma is rose petal-scented, subtle and crisp, with deep flavors of mint and strawberries.
2021 Grape Republic Rosa Frizzante ($40): A pét-nat for adventurous drinkers who are also tracking the newest new thing: Grape Republic, founded in 2017, has become a big name in Japan’s natural wine scene. This is the second vintage of its ripe, round, lightly sparkling blend of hybrid red and white grapes, and it’s just arrived in the U.S.
2022 J.H. Wheeler Rosé ($48): Delicate, yet layered describes the third vintage of this fruity-chalky pink wine made from 40-year-old Napa Valley cabernet franc vines. The label, reborn several years ago, makes mostly expensive ($225 and up per bottle) single-vineyard cabernets. It has added a rosé that now sells out first. Only 167 cases made.
2023 Realm Precious Twin Rosé ($63): I raved about this Napa cult winery’s first rosé, La Fe, created in the 2020 vintage when wildfires and smoke ensured they couldn’t make any pricey cabernet. This new savory orangey-pink cuvée is a different blend—merlot with 10% charbono—and it’s rich, complex and succulent.
2022 Gut Oggau Cecilia Rosé ($72): This is the second vintage of a new, idiosyncratic, no-sulfur rosé from a cult biodynamic Austrian producer. It’s a delicious field blend of red and white grapes from a single plot, with two-thirds pressed directly and one-third macerated for a short time to pick up color from the skins.
2019 Château Gassier Elevae ($125): I can’t resist including this single French pick, a new, impressive, bold, oak-aged rosé from Provence’s Saint-Victoire area. The blend of five grapes, all organically grown, shows floral and pomegranate aromas and spicy oak flavors. Think of this as a rosé for red wine drinkers. The winery says it’s perfect with wagyu beef chop aged in Himalayan salt. Sounds good to me.
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