Category:Wine reviews

Mini-reviews 169: Even more rose reviews 2023

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

woman drinking rose
“Ah, the WC’s annual rose extravaganza.”

Reviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the fourth Friday of each month. This month, five rose reviews as part of the blog’s 16th annual rose fest.

• The 16th annual Memorial Day and rose 2023 post

• Bodegas Ostatu Rosado 2021 ($16, purchased, 13%): Well-made and very Spanish rose — so almost orange fruit, barely ripe cherry and crisp and fresh. But not that much better, given the price, than the $8 La Vieille Ferme. Imported by De Maison Selections

• La Roche Palais Rose 2021 ($10, purchased, 12%): French grenanche-cinsault blend (60/40) made in the Provencal style, so barely ripe strawberry and lots of minerality. Highly recommended. Imported by Monsieur Touton Selection

• Curator Rose 2021 ($5/250-ml can, sample, 12.5%): This South African wine in a can is a bit pricey, but well done (berry fruit, very dry). I’m told it’s available, but it doesn’t show up much when I search for it. Imported by Broadbent Selections

• Purato Terre Rose 2021 ($10, purchased, 13%): Nero d’avola rose from Sicily that is fruitier than I thought it would be (ripe strawberries, but not tart), but that isn’t sweet and has a longish mineral finish. Interesting and fun. Imported by Vias Imports

• Cellier Des Dauphins Rose 2021 ($11, purchased, 12.5%): Cellier Des Dauphins makes three or four French roses with similar names around this price — all are worth drinking (red berry fruit, refreshing). So why I am being so vague about which wine to buy? Because, in the finest tradition of the wine business, I think they’re the same wine, but with different names for different retailers. So if it says Cellier Des Dauphins, you’ll be OK. Imported by Monsieur Touton Selection

Photo: Jacalyn Beales via Unsplash

Memorial Day and rose 2023

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

two women drinking rose
“We can vouch for the WC’s excellent taste in rose.”

The blog’s 16th annual Memorial Day and rose celebration, in which we celebrate cheap, quality pink wine

The good news as we celebrate the blog’s 16th annual Memorial Day and rose extravaganza is that there is lots and lots of quality, inexpensive dry rose on store shelves. The bad news? Prices are higher, though not much more than last year. Plus, they’re all over the place, with some retailers charging twice as much as others for the same wine.

And perhaps the most interesting news? There may be a rose glut, with lots of older vintages — some as old as 2016 and 2017 — lurking in wait for unsuspecting wine drinkers. We’ve written about a potential wine glut before, and this is just another indication that lots of old wine is taking up space in warehouses. Know that most roses that are more than a couple of years old aren’t worth drinking, so buy that 2018 for $5 at your own risk. Hence, the the blog’s rose primer.

The roses here are each highly recommended, and tomorrow’s post will feature six more roses worth writing about. Many are 2021s; the 2022s have been slow to arrive. In fact, I still haven’t tasted blog favorites, Zestos, Charles & Charles, Scaia and La Vieille Ferme.

This year’s roses:

• Tenuta Fanti Rosato 2021 ($11, purchased, 13.5%): This Italian pink, made with sangiovese, was stunning — savory, yet almost fruit punch-like, in the Italian style that almost no one else does. Limited availability. Imported by Massanois

• Mont Gravet Rose 2022 ($10, sample, 12.5%): I tasted this French blog favorite before it was released to retail and it needed more time in the bottle. Having said that, it should evolve into what it always is — clean, bright Provencal-style rose (barely ripe berry fruit, minerality). There also a 3-liter box, non-vintage ($22, 12%), and it needs time, too. Imported by Winesellers Ltd.

• Funckenhausen Dry Rose 2022 ($16/1-liter, sample, 13%): Another stellar effort from a small Argentine producers — cherry fruit, but not sweet, clean, crisp, and all a rose should be. And a liter! Imported by Global Vineyard Importers

• Chateau Fage Rose 2021 ($10, purchased, 13%): Unpretentious and professional French rose, made with cabernet franc, that is a bit heavier and fuller than a Provencal wine. The cab franc fruit (dark berries) shows through. Imported by Monsieur Touton Selection

• La Chapelle du Seuil Rose 2021 ($10, purchased, 13%): Provencal rose for $10. A little more ripe, so the strawberry fruit is more noticeable, but also clean, some minerality, and a hint of garrigue. Imported by Skurnik Wines

• Domaine du Tariquet Rose 2021 ($12, sample, 11%): This French effort may be difficult to find, and prices are all over the place. But it’s savory and fruity, with a wonderful, almost dark finish (and the blend includes tannat). How do they do it? Imported by Frederick Wildman and Sons

More about Memorial Day and rose:
• Memorial Day and rose 2022
• Memorial Day and rose 2021
• Memorial Day and rose 2020
• Rose and socca

Photo: cheeseslave is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Wine of the week: Bieler Père et Fils Rose 2022

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

Bieler rose bottle
Bieler Père et Fils Rose 2022/$10-$21

Once again, the Bieler family shows that rose matters and that it doesn’t need to cost $40

The world might do whatever it does these days, but there remains one thing we can always count on: The Bieler family’s Sabine rose.

So, as the blog celebrates its 16th annual Memorial Day and rose extravaganza this week, let us be grateful that Charles Bieler and the rest of the family respect rose in the same way they have for years.

That means quality. That means availability (Target, even). That means a fair price. That means value. And that means French rose from Provencal that tastes like French rose from Provencal, instead of some marketing team’s idea of what pink wine should taste like.

This vintage of the Bieler Sabine ($12, sample, 12.5%) is as it always is — classic Provencal rose (though perhaps with a touch more strawberry fruit this vintage), a bit of minerality, and a hint of the tell-tale garrigue. It’s not sweet. It’s not “ultra-pale and evanescent,” and it isn’t “intense, concentrated, mouth-filling, super-marrowy, long” the way the wine geeks like their rose.

It’s rose for those of us who like rose, who don’t want to pay $40, and who don’t care what the rest of the world thinks about what we drink. Highly recommended, and sure to return to the Hall of Fame next year.

Imported by Bieler Pere et Fils

Wine of the week: Mont Gravet GSM 2021

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

Mont Gravet GSM bottle
Mont Gravet GSM 2012/$10-$15

Say goodbye to the legendary Gravet carignan, and welcome this red blend

The Mont Gravet carignan is one of the great cheap wines of all time; the 2015 was spectacular, and I still smile when I think about the audience’s reaction at the cheap wine seminar I gave at an American Wine Society conference. Blown away would be the polite description.

Sadly, though, the carignan seems to be gone. Call it just another of the wine business’ vagaries, whether because the grapes weren’t available or cost too much or whatever.

In its place, we get the Mont Gravet GSM 2021 ($12, sample, 13%), since it has the same SKU (the number on the bar code on the back label). Which, all things considered, isn’t such a bad thing.

The GSM is also French, and is a blend of about one-third each of grenache, syrah, and mourvedre (hence its name). It’s a different wine – a more traditional style than the carignan, which is rarely used for varietal wines.

It’s bigger and heavier in the mouth certainly, and not necessarily the kind of red to keep in the fridge when you want a glass of something. So a food wine, with much riper red fruit (especially from the grenache), an almost bacon fat thing from the syrah, and even some spice (black pepper?).

Pair this with summer barbecue and enjoy, but don’t overlook any past vintages of the carignan in case you find them.

Imported by Winesellers Ltd.

Mother’s Day wine 2023

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

Mother and child
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom

Four suggestions — white, sparkling, rose, and red — for Mother’s Day 2023

The blog’s 17th annual Mother’s Day wine post makes me smile — and how often does that happen? The point is that wine is about the people around us, and not boasting about scores or collecting trophies. The blog’s wine gift guide is here.

These Mother’s Day wine suggestions should get you started:

• Pedroncelli Dry Rosé of Zinfandel 2022 ($17, sample, 13.9%): Not the $10 rose it once was, but this California pink remains one of my favorites. This vintage is classic — fruity (zinfandel’s dark berries, believe it or not), oh so fresh and crisp. Not Provencal, but not supposed to be.

• Bodegas Eidosela Neboa 2020 ($18, purchased, 13%):  Let it sit for 30 minutes, and this Spanish white becomes exquisite albarino — savory, salty, a bit of lime fruit, and even some minerality. Imported by Valkyrie Selections

• Steenberg Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc NV ($20, sample, 12.5%): This South African sparkling is not for all tastes, and the price may put some people off. Having said that, it’s quality South African sauvignon blanc that has lots and lots of tiny bubbles. So almost grapefruity, but firmly a Champagne-style wine. Imported by Beck Family Estates

• Forty Ounces Red 2016 ($14/1-liter, purchased, 12%): No, there may not be a lot of this around, and yes, it’s an older vintage. But, somehow, this French red blend is worth drinking — berry fruit, soft tannins, and surprisingly balanced. Imported by Verity Wine Partners

Photo: “CL Society 408: Mother and child” by francisco_osorio is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

More about Mother’s Day wine:
• Mother’s Day wine 2022
• Mother’s Day wine 2021
• Mother’s Day wine 2020
• Expensive wine 165: Roederer Estate Brut NV
• Wine of the week: Broadbent Gruner Veltliner 2021

Wine of the week: Marques de Caceres Rosado 2021

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

Marques de Caceres Rosado 2021
Marques de Caceres Rosado 2021/$8-$14

Yes, it’s a a past vintage, but quality doesn’t always depend on that sort of thing anymore

The Wine Curmudgeon has a couple of bottles of this wine sitting in the wine closet as I write this. Yes, it’s a past vintage – or what should be a past vintage in more normal times – but one of the many benefits of the last decade’s rose boom is that many past vintages are worth drinking.

And the Marques de Caceres Rosado 2021 ($10, purchased, 13.5%) is just one of those sorts of wines.

Frankly, I was surprised that it has held up so well. For one thing, it’s a supermarket brand, and since it doesn’t cost as much as the $20 roses we’re supposed to drink, it can’t possibly be worth drinking. But the producer knows a thing or two about making quality supermarket wines, and I’ve always respected the importer. The other bonus? Lots of availability.

So what to know about this Spanish pink from the Rioja region? First, it’s made with tempranillo, so the fruit flavors are darker – more cranberry and black raspberry than strawberry. But it’s still clean and crisp and refreshing, despite the vintage. And no, it’s not sweet.

In other words, don’t be worried about serving this for Mom over the weekend, whether for brunch or an afternoon barbecue. And, with a little luck, we can keep drinking this vintage until the 2022 shows up.

Imported by Vineyard Brands

Expensive wine 168: Ceretto Blange 2021

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

Ceretto Blangé 2021
Ceretto Blange 2021/$19-$22

Italian white wine shows off the arneis grape

Italian wine, which is full of ironies to begin with, gets especially ironic when it comes to white wine. Most of us don’t think of Italian whites as the equal of the reds, and the most popular varietal is pinot grigio, which is usually used to make vast amounts of indifferent supermarket wine.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t Italian whites that deserve our respect, whether it’s the less expensive grillo from Sicily or arneis from the Piedmont.

Case in point is the Ceretto Blange 2021 ($22, purchased, 13.5%), which I bought as part of the recent expensive wine week experiment. I’ve long enjoyed arneis, and look for it when I want to spend a little more money. It’s both food friendly and a welcome change from the citrus fruit driven white wines that I usually drink.

Hence, the Ceretto, made by a producer best known for making $100 and $200 Piedmontese reds. Which, in this case, means we’re getting a top-notch winery for our $22.

Most arneis is floral and almost nutty – the tasting notes say hazel nuts, but it always seems more almond-like to me. The wine is not quite as rich as a California chardonnay, but always round, with stone fruit flavors.

The Ceretto is a little fresher with less almond and more citrus and apricot than others I’ve tasted. This doesn’t mean that it’s not worth drinking, but just that it’s different. And, frankly, it was head and shoulders above the quality of the other pricey wines I tasted during the expensive wine week effort.

Highly recommended, and just the thing for Mother’s Day – as a gift or for a leisurely Sunday dinner.

Imported by Heritage Collection