The Beginning of a Lovely Relationship with Pink

This entry starts a journey into the land of dry rosé for me. There is no reason not to love a dry pink wine, especially if you like red wine or white wine--wait, that's all wine! Exactly, it's versatile, summery, and goes with almost every food. It's not sweet white zinfandel, although I'm sure I could find a lovely dry zinfandel rosé. Let's start in Spain--and I already have France lined up.

Esencia Valdemar 2004 Rioja Garnacha Rosé

• 100% Garnacha (aka Grenache)
• Rioja, Spain
• Deep rose color, lovely, tending more toward copper/brick than red. I wouldn’t call it a dark rosé, nor a light rosé—more in-the-middle.
• Nose of nicely underripe strawberries, with a little hint of minerals and a light spice. After the wine warms up, a little alcoholic, though.
• Tasty strawberry, rasp-cranberry, maybe even a hint of spice and a nice candy freshness at the end. I’d call it light bodied, but not with medium tart candy kind of finish. A little hot, as in the nose.
• 14% alcohol/volume—a little high for a light summery wine, I think. I prefer my cooler climate whites, we get lower alcohol (below 13% preferably), but if the flavors and aromas work right, the alchohol content shouldn’t matter.
• $14 @ Sip
• I think it’d be better with some light food, some salad, something barbecued seems perfect—shrimp on the barbie, I’d say. Fried Green Tomatoes and remoulade? We’ll find out—stay tuned.