WTN: 2005 Barnard Griffin Rose' of Sangiovese

I spotted this at the wine shop in Gig Harbor and asked one of the co-owners to tell me about it. Since she is a big fan of old world wines and gave this one a thumbs up, I had to try it.

2005 Barnard Griffin Rose' of Sangiovese ($10): A bit on the darker side of the Rose' color scale. Great aroma with a bouquet of strawberries. Crisp with good fruit and light tannin. Chill this a bit and serve it with your next picnic.

-- Clark

Previous vintages of the Barnard Griffin rosé have had rather too much RS for my taste, so I'd pass. With all the new old-world rosé's starting to arrive, I'd go with one of those. I'm eyeing some Sancerre rosé that's sitting on the shelf right now. Definitely more expensive, but I loved the Sancerre rosé I had last summer. I also loved the Forte Canto Rosato, and I'm looking forward to trying the next batch of that, which will be at about $10. I understand there will be lots of that at my shop this summer.

I HAVE tried this year's vintage of another of last year's faves, the Bergevin Lane Rosé. The sample I had was served rather warm, not ideal, but unfortunately, it seemed to have none of the elegance of last year's effort. Too bad.

Dave

[Jenise]

Clark, I tried this wine last year (lured by that gorgeous color) and liked the first bottle, but not the repurchase a few months later for the same reason that Dave cites--too sweet. And I wasn't dead-sure that I had bought the same vintage, but based on that second bottle I would hesitate to purchase this wine again cuz I have this feeling that I don't know what I'm going to get. Where did you find this one on the sweetness scale?

Are any of you fans of the Chinnok Cab Franc Rose? Has anyone tried the 05 version? I heard it was out but haven't seen any bottles of it yet.

Hello? Did someone mention Chinook Cab Franc Rose???

One of the two consistently good roses out of WA. The other was the Kiona, and they don't make that anymore anyway; haven't for years.

So, what are the other good roses coming out of WA these days, Marc?

[Jenise]

Loved the Chinook last year, Marc; haven't seen it yet either. But it's a great idea to look for it: I'm buying the wine for our neighborhood wine tasting in two weeks, and I was scratching my head about which local rose to include. Forgot all about the Chinook, but that would be a great one to hunt for since the cab franc is so unusual.

So, what are the other good roses coming out of WA these days

I tried a rose from Syncline a couple of weeks ago that was a grenache syrah mourvedre blend that was very good, maybe a bit too big a rose for my tastes. It had good clean fruit, a lot like some of the Provence roses I tried a few weeks ago. The 13% abv showed a bit as it warmed up.

I am the wrong person to ask about WA roses. The Chinook was the only one I bought. I did taste some interesting Pinot Noir roses from Willamette, which were nice but not my favorite style either.

Last summer I became hopelessly addicted to Joguet's Cab Franc rose from the Loire, and also the Pineau d' Aunis rose from Clos Roche Blanche. I like them dry, crisply acidic, with lower alcohol levels.

Damn, this preoccupation with alcohol is catching, I need to stop reading all those Fla Jim notes.

Jenise, This was the first bottle I tried, and the only one I purchased. I found some residual sweetness, but not too bad; ripe fruit flavors may be enhancing the perceived sweetness. If you can only tolerate bone dry, this wine will not appeal to you. On the other had, it really had good acidity.

I had this wine over two evenings. Once with a picnic-style cold fried chicken meal; the other with grilled pork ribs that had been treated with a salt-free herb rub. It went well with both meals. I would not serve this wine with a serious meal, but found it an appealing and fun change of pace.

-- Clark

Mark, My wife and I stopped at Chinook Winery late last September, and loved all of their wines. Unfortunatley, they had been long sold out of their Cab Franc Rose'. I have also heard very good feedback about that wine, and I let my local wine shop know that I want some when it comes in. With any luck, I should have some soon. -- Clark

PS: If you happen to be near Prosser, I highly recommend visiting Chinook. Lovely couple operating it: he manages the vineyard and she is the winemaker. Note, they are only open on weekends.

2005 Barnard Griffin Rose' of Sangiovese

For the uninitiated, I'm wondering where this is from?

[Jenise]

Clark, you're right that I prefer bone dry, but as long as there's ample acidity to carry it some sweetness won't send me running out of the room screaming. I'm serving the Renardat-Fache Cerdon de Bugey for an apperitif, which I love, and that's a little sweet. But I don't have to love a wine to pour it--I'm serving these wines to a neighborhood group of about 40 participants wherein my last place wine is always somebody's first place! The Bernie will win hearts, to be sure. Thanks for the recco.

Rahsaan, it's a Washington state wine.

Rahsaan, it's a Washington state wine.

Thanks, I guess I should have gathered that from all the Washington wine discussion.

But it was the sangiovese that made me curious. So are Italian grapes finding a home in WA the same way they appear to be growing in popularity in CA? Perhaps different Italian regions/grapes than in CA, and therefore more promising sangiovese perhaps, as CA examples seem to find it difficult to preserve the enjoyable acidity..

Yes, there are more and more Washington producers using Italian varietals. One of my favorites is Yellow Hawk Cellar,
http://www.yellowhawkcellar.com
It's mainly Italians with them.

I love their sangio and dry muscat, and their rosato is no slouch either. Unfortunately probably not available outside the WA/OR area.

Rahsaan: You might (vaguely) recall at the Shanghai Pot offline wherein Joe Perry found the mysteriously overoaked Produtorri Barbaresco and dissed the altogether wonderful Strub, that one of the first wines opened (after your donation, which Lou K. didn't care for), a WA state Semillon that YOU didn't care for...and neither did I, even though I brought it to the fray....well, that was the Chinook brand of which we speak. Very small winery, Kay Simon is the winemaker and her SO is the vineyard manager, and they sell it pretty much in the PacNorthwest.

And even though you didn't like the Semillon (in its defense, it was the weakest one of theirs I ever had), you might find the CF Rose at least tolerable----in a condescending new worldly way, of course, since your are so limite and narrow and focused, you know.

Yellow Hawk Cellar

Glad to see you mention them. Their Rosato is 100% Lemberger, from the Champoux Vineyard, with no residual sugar. $10.00 SRP makes it a steal -- I always grab a case.

Last summer I enjoyed a Sangiovese Rose' from Kestrel and a Cabernet Sauvignon Rose' from Snoqualmie (Cirque du Rose'). This year Kestrel has a 2005 Rose' from the Yakima Valley that blends Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. 1.4% residual sugar

Last summer I enjoyed a Sangiovese Rose' from Kestrel and a Cabernet Sauvignon Rose' from Snoqualmie (Cirque du Rose'). This year Kestrel has a 2005 Rose' from the Yakima Valley that blends Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. 1.4% residual sugar

Hmm. Don't know the Kestrel, but sounds like it could be interesting...except for the 1.4RS. I tend to like mine at hovering right around 1% or lower. Of course, if it has enough Sangio and CF in the blend the acidity of those could ameliorate the rs nicely.

I do know the Snoqualmie, though, and it's got to much RS for me.

Yes, there are more and more Washington producers using Italian varietals. One of my favorites is Yellow Hawk Cellar,

It's mainly Italians with them.

I love their sangio and dry muscat, and their rosato is no slouch either. Unfortunately probably not available outside the WA/OR area.

Thanks for the recommendation. My wife and I are overdue for a trip out to Walla Walla, so I look forward to visiting Yellow Hawk.

Note that I tasted a very good Wineglass Cellars Sangiovese ($18 ) when we visited the Yakima area last September; the grapes come from the very well known Boushey Vineyard. Note that Wineglass also has a Sangiovese Rose' that they call Fran's Wine ($11). It had a rather odd aftertaste.

-- Clark

Last summer I enjoyed a Sangiovese Rose' from Kestrel and a Cabernet Sauvignon Rose' from Snoqualmie (Cirque du Rose'). This year Kestrel has a 2005 Rose' from the Yakima Valley that blends Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. 1.4% residual sugar

Last September, I stopped at the Kestrel tasting room in Prosser, WA, and I was hugely disappointed. Their premium wines were good, but very overpriced. Their regular wines all seemed to have some kind of flaw that made them unappealing to me. The Sangiovese Rose' simply had too much residual sugar for my taste.

-- Clark

Rahsaan: ... one of the first wines opened ..., a WA state Semillon that YOU didn't care for...and neither did I, even though I brought it to the fray....well, that was the Chinook brand of which we speak. Very small winery, Kay Simon is the winemaker and her SO is the vineyard manager, and they sell it pretty much in the PacNorthwest.

I loved Chinook Winery (we visited them last September) and I really like their Semillon ... and their red blend, and their Cab Franc. Dying to try their CF Rose'; hopefully that will be solved soon.

I'm not an expert on Semillon, but their wine was very appealing to me. Perhaps we tried different vintages.

-- Clark

So, what are the other good roses coming out of WA these days?

Hoke, A few years back I tried some McRea Cellars Rose' and found it to be very nice; well structured and bone dry. Just for grins, I bought another bottle last summer and slipped it into the lineup of a French Rose' blind tasting. Unfortunately, that bottle was ruined by heavy oxidation. Darn!!

-- Clark

Clark:

I'm a long term fan of Doug McCrea's wines...from back when I lived in Seattle and Doug was just starting to make his big impression on folks.

Doug then (and I'm sure still) had that visionary gleam in his eye, and everyone could tell he was going to do significant things with WA wines. And he has.

One of my personal grievances is that I'm no longer as close to the WA scene as I used to be, and don't have as much easy access to either the wines or the people as I used to. McCrea's wines being in that list, Kay's Chinook wines another.

Boushey Vineyard

The best Syrah fruit in the state comes from this vineyard. Five wineries access it at last count.

Rahsaan: You might (vaguely) recall...

Oh yes, I recall, and I'm sure there is lots of good wine from WA, even if that semillon was not one of them..

But are there lots of people working with Italian grapes? Seems interesting..