Wonderful French Rose wine
 

I do love the cool, crisp French rose wine in the summertime---not the sweet white zinfandel that is served in most US restaurants, but the dry, crisp ones so popular in the south of France.

So far I have found "Red Bicyclette" from the Langduedoc-Roussillon region. Any other suggestions that are readily available in the US?

There is an article on French rose wines in the August issue of Bon Appetit that just arrived in the mail. I like the Rhones very much but this article provides a number of additional recommendations.

Commanderie de Peyrassol is a favorite of mine. Luckily good rose wine is much more available in the U.S. ( at least in NYC) than it used to be. The NY Times had a list of their recommended rose's in the "dining section" a few weeks ago. You can still get it on line.

Rosé finally pulled ahead of white wine in consumption in France in the last 2 years. 15% of the wine drunk in France is now rosé, compared to 10% for white wine.

Try Clos du Bois rosé. It is dry like French rosés. Many higher quality wineries offer other rosés than white zinfandel. Bonny Doon used to have a decent one that was called Pink Wine.

This is one of our "house" wines in the summer; very well priced (around $10 a bottle in the NY area) and fairly easy to find; where do you live?


http://www.chateau-de-pourcieux.com/uk/rose.html


These are always reliable, at a higher (some say too high) price point:

http://www.domaines-ott.com/en/homepage/index.php

Trader Joe's sells Le Ferme Julien when they can keep it in stock for ~$5-6 per bottle. It is one of our house wines, and thje only disadvantage is that everybody guzzles it down like crazy.

Lancer's is a fizzy rose that is nice. and the bottle is great.

My Favorite is Bandol's Domaine Tempier but One A rarely buy because it is expensive. I bought myself a bottle for the 4th.
Ferme Julian is a great buy. Unfortunately I don't drive so wait til someone I know can pick me up some. i've been drinking this summer, St Peyre from Languedoc amd Domaine Houchart from Provence, the vinyard is located at the bottom of Mt. Victoire near Aix.

Ott is Tempier's competition :)

We live in Wisconsin and it has been very hot this summer so the dry Rose is a big hit. I'm headed to the store today and will look for a few of the mentioned wines.
Merci!

Listel Gris is quite good, but my favorite rosé is actually a Moroccan wine -- Boulaouane gris.

If you wish to try something a bit different, try a Tavel from the region just west of the Rhone river, near Avignon. The predominant grapes used in Tavel are the Cinsault and Grenache. I think the best rose from Tavel I've ever had is Château de Manissey; absolutely fabulous!

Never had a sip of Rose post college because sweet ain't my thing. Once I started drinking iced Rose in Avignon, I didn't stop for a week. As long as I can count on the tart taste, this will be my summer wine (and may even replace BEER!).

The best of the best rose wines to be found anywhere in France and along the Rhone are found in Tavel and Lirac. These are wonderful and so inexpensive to buy when you are visiting in the area. Techincally, these areas are in the Gard area across the Rhone River from Avignon. There are co-ops offering tastings as well as small stores. Locals buy the wines in cubies(containers that look like gas cans) from tanks that look like gas tanks. Bottles of excellent local wines are very inexpensive. These two small villages are there to be explored, and if you are a rose lover, it is well worth your time. The wine stores are more than willing to let you taste almost anything in the store. Cheers.

Nametaken makes an excellent point to further my endorsement of roses from the Rhone region. Both Tavel and Lirac are apellations that produce roses.. Lirac also produces white nd reds; the white being mostly of the Viogner and Marsanne grape varieties which are low yielding but produce excellent wines when the grapes are properly cultivated. I stayed in Tavel at Le Pont du Roy; a fabulous inn run by a father/son team. My bedroom had a view of vines right outside the window, rustling in the late September breezes at dusk and at dawn. Simply delightful...

Yes, I'm in Avignon right now debating on whether I should get some, since I am driving the rental car back to Paris tomorrow. In bulk, the wines here cost less than 1€ per liter.

For French roses, Tavel is the best known, and the Cotes du Rhone, generally, produces good quality roses. Guigal is a good label to look for when seeking out Rhone wines. Also, regarding Ott, they have a lower-priced label called something like Ott Selection.

In the Rhone style, but from the US would be Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare or something from Tablas Creek. The Paso Robles area, generally, would be a region to look for. The Big House wines have been sold off by Bonny Doon, but would likely still be a decent wine.

Heading further north, there are some decent roses from Oregon and from Washington. Chateau Ste Michelle has one and they are a quality producer at a fair price point. Also look for their blanc de noirs sparkler, which is as much a rose as a blanc de noirs.

Crios de Susana Balbo Rose of Malbec 2008 - Argentinian. It's really lovely wine and costs about $13.00. We were drinking it in Santa Fe,NM where they had it at Whole Foods. Don't know, now that I'm back in NYC what it might cost, but probably not a whole lot more.

Chateau Val Joanis has a decent rose. And for trivia buffs, the vineyard in French Kiss.

kerouac,

You may find Mas Sainte Berthe Passe- Rose there locally in Avignon...it is from Les Baux....one of my favorites.

ooo-hh, bookmarking. If you end up buying some down by Avignon, kerouac, please do advise where you found it, what you ended up buying and how much it cost -- oh, and what you think of it upon consumption.:* Merci d'avance.

Rosé wine from the Var is also particularly good especially from Vidauban eg Chateau d'Astros and Chateau St Julien d'aille

I think Tavel may have been what I was slurping at the New Ground restaurant in Avignon. Still can't believe how wonderful it was on a hot summer night.

My friend in Provence has this huge bottle covered in Straw and goes to a vineyard to have it filled than she transfers it to her old wine bottles.

<i>My friend in Provence has this huge bottle covered in Straw and goes to a vineyard to have it filled than she transfers it to her old wine bottles.</i>

Frankly, you might as well buy Franzia.

no way, the wine is excellent, and it's a well known vineyard. Her son is in the business.

<i>no way, the wine is excellent, and it's a well known vineyard. Her son is in the business.</i>

So? Franzia is a well-known company too and they are in the business. Bulk wine is bulk wine. I just don't understand why people think that there is some magical, ultra-cheap wine out there, if only you pour it into the bottle yourself. It doesn't exist. Oh, you might get lucky once or twice, but the conditions of sale people are describing are pretty much a guarantee of poor wine.

Wines that are meant to be drunk young can probably be purchased from the producer in bulk. There are decent wines in France that are sold in 5 liter cartons. Careful aging is not expected.

I love Mas de la Dame rosé from just outside Les Baux.

<i>There are decent wines in France that are sold in 5 liter cartons. Careful aging is not expected.</i>

The bag in box packaging is designed for wine and works well for wines not intended for aging.

Transferring wine from vat/tank to bottle to bottle under questionable conditions, however, is a recipe for oxidization and oxidization is a concern for any wines you intend to hold for more than a couple of days.

The local wine dealer also sells three or four wines from bulk containers, transferring the wine to 5 liter jugs provided my him.

ooh I am so jealous it is hard for us to by French Rose wine here in Oz, consistantly. I'm always checking out wine shops for varieties.

We tasted some great Rose wines on our trip to France last year and SO cheap...........

Great thread, thanks.