WTN: Three favorite summer sippers -- three Rosés and a Riesling.

Or, should that be a Riesling and three Rosés?

Our favorite for the season is the 2000 Trimbach "Cuvee Frederic Emile" Alsace Riesling. Minerals, flowers, very dry, delicious, citrus notes. $27.00 from Beacon Wine, a new supplier when my old favorites ran out. Drinking beautifully now. 4*+.

NV Vin du Bugey Cerdon Sparkling Rosé Alain Renardat France. Folks say this needs to be very young to be wonderful. I found a bottle yesterday in my cellar -- a forgotten orphan -- that must have been five years old -- it was delicious -- frothy, fizzy, strawberry essence. Can't wait to try a good one! :-) 4*. [There's supposed to be a magic Lot Number somewhere on the label, but mine was as well hidden as the DaVinci code -- so I just drank and enjoyed and forgot about thinking.]

2005 Ch. Valcombe Rosé Cotes du Ventoux France. $18.00. Wonderful bargain from one of the best QPR vineyards I know. Vert dry, made by Paul Jeune. Not sure ofthe blend but the vineyard which I've visited has 60 year old vines of Syrah, Roussanne, Carignan, Grenache, Ugni Blan, Cinsault and Bourboulenc -- galets at 1000 feet on the slopes of a beautiful mountain. 4*.

2005 Commanderie de Peyrassol Rosé Provence France. $18.00. Get a good dose of history with a wonderful dry Rosé -- this property was founded by the Knights Templar. Syrah, Grenache and Cinsault. Delicious. 4*.

Regards, Bob

Thanks for the notes. I liked the 2000 CFE, though it seemed more forward than usual.

Aged Renerdat-Fache? Never lasts that long at my house!

Recently I was able to try 3 different 05 roses from the South of France and the Peyrassol was my favorite of the bunch. All three were very tasty but the Peyrassol stood out a little. I noticed an orange peel flavor mixed with the usual strawberry and watermelon rose fruit. The acidity balanced the fruit well and it was very drinkable. Also the 12 %abv was the lowest of all 3 of the roses.

The Commanderie de Peyrassol has a very fascinating history that you alluded to. On the K and L website it mentions that the estate was founded by the Knights of Templar to protect the crusaders en route to the Holy Land, and the first recorded harvest was in 1256. The estate passed into the hands of the Knights of Malta when the Templars were defeated by the French King in 1311. The state became owners of the Chateau after the French revolution. In 1870, the Rigord family purchased the estate, and it has remained in the family since then. The current owner, Francois Renard has been the winemaker there since 1981.

They also mention that some Tibouren grapes are blended with the usual syrah, grenache and cinsault in the rose. I guess this was my first wine containing Tibouren.

BTW, that is a good price on the Trimbach CFE. It is now over $40 retail most places on the left coast. My favorite Riesling of the summer so far is the 04 Donnhoff Spatlese Felsenberg, although I am sure it is quite a different style than the Trimbach. It has such pretty primary fruits right now and an airy lightness that makes drinking a glass of this wine a real Spring pleasure. The main drawback is the bottle can disappear very quickly.

Best,

Thanks for the additional information, Marc. Here's Jancis Robinson's response to my note, as it appeared on her Purple Pages; I'm so proud of that "outré":

Good timing, as always for your turn. I’m writing this Saturday in the FT about my favourite rosés and chillable lightish reds, backed up by a list of nearly 50 in the tasting notes section on the site. According to winesearcher.com Peyrassol is widely available in the US but only one merchant lists it in the UK. I’ll try to taste their two cuvées. I’m a big fan of Valcombe as you can see from this 2003 wine of the week.

As for the Bugey, now that’s what I call outré!

Good to know that you have found a good lot of the CFE 2000. We have had quite a bit of discussion about this particular wine on this site in the past.

Regards, Bob