By Chris Cree MW
One of my favorite signs of spring’s arrival is when the newest crop of crisp, dry refreshing rosé wines start showing up as winter fades away. Practically a ritual in the cafés and bistros from Paris to the Cote d’Azur, these quintessential summer wines initially met with some resistance here in the States, with memories of assorted “pop” rosé wines from our youth, mostly sweet and often sparkly, leaving a bad taste behind. Yet each year more and more wine lovers have shed their fear of “drinking pink” and discovered the beauty of these versatile summer wines, and today rosé is massively popular.
But there are two sides to that story. With its explosion in popularity, the rosé category has become overcrowded, with many johnny come lately producers jumping on the bandwagon. To put it kindly, many of these are less than great. At Cree Wine Company we take the extra effort and taste and approve every rose wine we sell (tough job but someone has to do it!) The result is a curated selection of the best of the best, whether it is a $9 rosé from the Languedoc or Spain or the top-notch classic wines of Bandol and Cassis, we only sell the very best.
Generally inexpensive to moderate in price, rosé wines are perfect companions to summer’s more casual entertaining and lighter cuisine. They are great with all kinds of summer fare including salads, grilled summer vegetables, grilled fish or chicken, and cheeses, charcuterie, and more. They are also great all on their own on a warm summer afternoon or evening!
Somewhere between reds and whites in style, rosés are typically light to medium in body, crisp and wonderfully refreshing — with a trace of tannin from their red wine lineage. Contrary to popular belief, almost all are actually quite dry. Rosés can range in color from pale pink to brick/salmon, to a light ruby red, and offer flavors and aromas that range from raspberry and strawberry notes to citrus, melon, and tropical fruits. Their individual styles are determined in large part by the grapes from which they are made and the regions where they are grown.
While rosés don’t strictly have a season, the new vintage starts to arrive in late March/early April and is mostly consumed through Labor Day. They are generally best drunk young to capture their vibrant youthful freshness. A few exceptions include the rosé wines of Bandol that can be better with a little time in bottle, Lopez de Heredia, who doesn’t even release them until they have many years of cask and bottle age, and Château de Simone from Provence. So, this summer lose your fear of the pink and enjoy – but don’t wait – the best are as fleeting as summer itself!
Visit us online at CreeWineCo.com for our complete inventory of summer rosés, or better yet stop in, have a bite to eat and a flight of our newest arrivals and taste, learn, and try before you buy in our Wine Bar and Tasting Room!
Christopher Cree MW is the founder and Managing Partner of the Cree Wine Company, a Wine Bar, Wine School, Event Space and Online Wine Seller located in the Historic Perryville Inn in Hampton, NJ. In 1996, he became only the thirteenth American to have passed the Master of Wine Examination since it was first given in London in 1953. Today, there are 418 active Masters of Wine worldwide, with only 56 located in the US. 
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