The Cardella deep golden rose, and of Sangiovese–which I’m not angry about. I know people go all mono-brow when I voice my rosé snobbishness: I ONLY want Grenache in my glass, but like all the suffocating rules I place on myself, I DO make exceptions. I have a short list of varieties I enjoy nearly equally to Grenache: Chiaretto from Corvina is an obvious one, naturally Mourvedre hits hard in the right hands, and moving on down the list, probably next in line might shock you: Sangiovese. I think Sangio can make INCREDIBLE rosé; Tempranillo as well. After that, fuggetaboutit: I don’t want your Pinot rosé, I can’t really stomach Syrah, no Zin and DEF not White Merlot or Cab. A big cinnamon-toast-crunch comes out of the nose on this one, it’s thick and meaty–and a bit of age. The fruit a rich strawberry-rhubarb, and tasting it brings body and spice to the forefront. Clean and delicious–while rich–a bit of heat peppers the finish.

The Absolution is corked–also Sangiovese–and I’m including it only because it was the original pull alongside the Mendota plus the label is stunning. I don’t think I’ve ever had a corked rosé before, and at ice-bucket temperatures, I pretty sure 99% of you would drink it. Gorgeous dark onion skin, the cold dulls the flaw a bit, and while bouquet is impossible, in the mouth it’s rather juicy and bright. But I’m not going to talk about it because the fruit is SURELY affected. I’ve had this wine on several occasions and it is BALLER-CLASS. While posting a corked wine would be a brand death-knell for most wine-writer’s demographics, my followers are all smarter than that.

Backup-pull: negociant superieur Gerard Bertrand and one of his many rosé bottlings: this the SAVAGE WOMAN thing with 7 years under glass stopper and showing deep dusty polish–crayon and wet wood. Bright fruit is NOT the descriptor here, more akin to rich, buttery white wine. The berry and spice have worn themselves down to illusions of grandeur–and some oak even! Kinda tastes like flat Champagne.

2018 CARDELLA Sangiovese Min’s Vyd Mendota California 13.57
2020 ABSOLUTION Sangiovese Michaud Vyd Chalone AVA California 13.9
2014 GERARD BERTRAND ‘La Sauvageonne’ GR/Cin/SY 50/30/20 Ctx Languedoc 13.0

www.cardellawinery.com/
www.absolutioncellars.com/
https://en.gerard-bertrand.com/