“This is what dry rosé is all about.”
Click image to enlarge.
Since rebooting Tasting Notes from the Underground this past February, I’ve reviewed no fewer than 10 dry rosés. We’re unabashed fans of this style, and take great pleasure in trying examples from all around the world. Happily, there is a boatload of the stuff available around here, and a lot of it is pretty good. What’s more, it seems like every retailer has at least a few selections that the last place I stopped at didn’t, so there’s always something new to try.
I picked these two bottles up last week at Plum Market West Bloomfield. I was checking the first one out when my friend Paula Hartson, who was working in the department, came up and confirmed my suspicion that I was eying a good one. She then also recommended the Slovenian rosé, telling me, “Those are my two George wines for the day!”
That Paula, she always hits the mark when it comes to suggesting the kind of wines I like to drink!
2022 Maison Saint AIX Rosé Coteaux d’Aix en Provence, 13% alc., $15.97: A paler shade of pink than some, but this one isn’t shy when it comes to flavor. The aromatics introduce the strawberry watermelon mineral personality that comes through so nicely on the palate, delivering some fairly intense fruit in the process. This is classic Provence rosé, racy, bone dry, very nicely balanced and so appealing to this taster. This is what dry rosé is all about. Another glass please, and thank you very much! I’d been meaning to try this for a few months, but frankly, it’s $19 or $20 at many of the other area retail outlets I’ve found it at. The Plum Market price listed here is the lowest I’ve found so far. Find this wine
AIX Rosé is made in the Provence region of France and the winery, Maison Saint Aix, is located an hour east of the historic city of Aix-en-Provence. Maison Saint Aix is situated in the vineyards of a 140-year-old domain. These vineyards are non-irrigated and on a plateau at 1,400 feet above sea level, one of the highest in the region. The Mistral wind keeps the grapes dry and healthy. The soil is clay and limestone, with some sandy plots that are rich in minerals. Maison Saint Aix is passionate about making the best Provence rosé, and as such their grapes are sustainably farmed.
Imported by Kobrand Corporation, Purchase, NY
Click image to enlarge.
2022 Gönc ‘Cuvée Anna’ Rosé Štajerska, 50% Zametna Crnina, 20% Pinot Noir, 20% Pinot Grigio, 10% Blaufränkisch, 12% alc., $15.99: From Slovenia, this dry rosé has a tinge of orange to its color, and a solid hit of mineral on the palate. It’s zippy, shows good intensity to the peachy strawberry flavors and the finish lingers longer than I might have expected. I like a good wine that’s mineral driven, so this one is right up my alley. Find this wine
Peter Gönc has been making wines from his family’s estate in the oldest town in Slovenia, Ptuj. He named this bottle after his grandmother, Ann —which makes sense since half of this bottle is made up of the grape Žametna Črnina, an indigenous vine that dates back some 400 years. With cuts of Pinot Noir, Grigio and Blaufränkisch, you’ll undoubtedly taste the familiar style of rosé, but with a decidedly Slovakian mineraly snappiness.
Imported by JP Bourgeois, Asheville, NC
Reporting from Day-twah,
Bastardo
