Tasting Notes: Pink Stuff at JavaMonkey

I was going to put this post off until after I covered some of the Wine Bloggers’ Conference material as well as the post-conference adventures. However, Dave Kell of inDecatur made a cameo appearance tonight to sample some wine, so I thought I’d go ahead and get the notes up for the full lineup. Conference posts forthcoming this weekend, I promise!

I’ll confess, I have an ambivalent relationship toward rosé wine. One of the first wines I ever liked (note the past tense) was White Zinfandel, you know, that syrupy sweet stuff that you could get in the grocery store. My friend (whom I will not name to protect the guilty) and I would go to the old Vincent’s in Birmingham, load up on chocolate pastries and a bottle of white zin, and go to the house of whoever’s parents weren’t home, watch girly movies, and have a giggly sugarfest. Yes, I was supposedly the “responsible” one at 21, but hey, we weren’t drinking and driving. I still remember doing that with A Midsummer Night’s Dream the summer after I graduated from college. Now that friend has two kids, and I’m jaunting around the country drinking wine… Who’s the responsible adult now?

That’s a rhetorical question. You really don’t have to answer it.

So, back to the pink wine… Rosé wine is so much more than white zinfandel now. We even brought back some from our recent travels. Hubby is very picky about his pink wine because, as one of our tasting compatriots once noted, “If you’re gonna be a dude drinking pink wine, you’ve gotta be prepared to take some…” You can fill in the blank.

Here’s the lineup. For visualization purposes, I’ve included the exact (according to me) shade of pink for each selection.

2007 Kluge Estate SP Rosé (Albemarle County, VA): 95% Chardonnay, 5% Pinot Noir
You may remember this one from the last post. It’s still good, kind of tart at the beginning of the tasting with overtones of butterscotch.
Rating: Good to Very Good
Shade: Blush pink

2009 Sauvion Rosé d’Anjou (Loire Valley, France): 80% Cabernet Franc, 10% Gamay, 5% Pineaud d’Aunis, 5% Grolleau
Smooth, light, and fruity, this one stood up well to food. Maybe it was the power of suggestion, but it did have some pear notes with some citrus in addition to the expected rosé berries.
Rating: Very Good
Shade: Cooked Atlantic Salmon

2009 Artazuri Rosado (Navarra, Spain): 100% Garnacha
Raspberry nose, a little flat on the palate with a buttery finish.
Rating: Okay
Shade: Pretty in Pink

2008 Saddlerock Rosé (Malibu, California): 100% Syrah
I liked the 2006 vintage from last year’s Pink Stuff tasting better. This one had some mustiness on the nose, some floral and melon in addition to the “chewy” fruit on the palate.
Rating: Okay
Shade: Barbie Shoe Pink (c’mon, ladies, you remember them, the two-toned pink and white Barbie shoes!)

2009 Château de Ségriès Rosé (Tavel, Côtes due Rhône, France): 50% Grenache, 30% Cinsault, 15% Clairette, 5% Syrah
Strawberry pie in a glass with buttery fruit.
Rating: Good
Shade: Crayola Fuschia

2009 Castaño Rosado (Yecla, Spain):
Strawberry-raspberry juice, but I liked its straightforwardness.
Rating: Good to Very Good
Shade: Raspberry

2008 Hendry Ranch Napa Valley Rosé (Napa, California): Proprietary blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Merlot, and Malbec
Strawberry, citrus, and pink grapefruit smoothed out by overtones of stone fruit.
Rating: Very Good
Shade: Prom Dress Pink

Before you take my color designations too seriously, please keep in mind that I’m not a girly girl and have maybe owned two pieces of pink clothing in my lifetime. I’m happy to say that I’ve moved beyond my white zin preferences and biases, so I hope that you will give the pink stuff a try, too. You might be pleasantly surprised.