WTN: Seattle Slew (of rosés)

[Jenise]

The Dorks did rose a few nights ago. Was very pleased by the diverse collection people brought.

2014 Serendipity 'Curiosity Often Leads to Trouble' rose, B.C.
A first for this group: it's a Canadian wine and I didn't bring it! Deep pinky red. A six grape blend that's pleasant without distinction: tastes good, finishes clean and dry but I wouldn't seek it out. Possibly the most average wine on the table this night. Therefore: C (All other scores are relative.)

2014 Bordon Rioja
Medium pale coral. Subtle fresh nose, stone fruit. B

2014 Gray Monk Estate Winery Rotberger Rosé, B.C.
My wine. Dark pink. Intense raspberry and clean laundry on the nose, raspberry on the palate. Extra nice body, finishes dry. Good acidity and structure. Different without being weird. A very very nice surprise from the only rotberger vineyard in North America. Rotberger is the love child of Trollinger and Rielsing, and not related to rotburger (note the 'u') aka zweigelt. B+

2014 Two Mountain Winery Rosé Copeland Vineyard Columbia Valley Rosé Blend
New winery to me. Floral strawberry and raspberry with rhubarb, good weight. C+

2014 Miguel Torres Catalunya Sangre de Toro Rosé
Dark pinkish red. Sweet raspberry nose almost convinces you that there's RS here, but the finish is dry with good stealth tannins on the finish. Drinks more like a light red wine than a rose; better next day. Good, though, especially for $9. C

2012 Domaine de Terrebrune (Bandol) Bandol Rosé Mourvedre Blend
From magnum; perfect medium pink. Beautifully delineated flavors of crushed strawberry, custard, and a few herbs. Bright and zesty on the palate, drinking better now than ever. Could probably cellar for a few more years. A favorite. B+

2014 La Bastide Blanche Bandol Rosé
Controversial. Initially vegetal with green bean and cranberry, severe bitter/pithy aftertaste, someone mentioned mustard. Didn't have time to grow on me, though I usually like this producer. C-

2013 Bodegas Monteabellón Avaniel Ribera del Duero
Paprika, overweight with acid and top notes without much underneath. In all, somewhat pedestrian. D

2014 Domaine Lafond Tavel
Strawberry, leafy, brandy, fennel. Elegant and classy. A

2014 Pech Merle Ivy Rosé de Syrah Dry Creek Valley
My wine. Pale red shade of pink. Crunchy, big-body with tannins, bitter-sweet flavors of watermelon heart, thyme, tomato leaf, very dry. Quite Tavel-like, but lacks the elegance of the real Tavel above. Great discovery from California. B+

2014 Hawks View Cellars Pinot Noir Willamette Valley
Very pale pink with notes of sage and grapefruit. Delicate yet demanding on the palate. Has plenty of acidity, but feels like cashmere on the tongue. Gorgeous. A

2009 Robert Sinskey Vineyards Pinot Noir Vin Gris Carneros
Shows some age in a good way. Super fruity and yet super dry, all cranberry and thyme. Nice! B

2013 Reichsrat Von Buhl Spätburgunder Rosé Pfalz
My wine. Bretty nose dissipates in about 10 minutes. Terrific balance of fruit and taut acidity on the palate. In my top five. A-

2014 Clos Cibonne Tibouren Côtes de Provence Rosé Cuvée Tradition
Gabe's bottle. Deep orange color. Dry and rich with fascinating complexity. Historic winery in Provence who started the Cru Classe designation, therefore the only winery in the region allowed to put the grape variety (Tibouren) on the label. Interesting factoid: this winery puts all its old vine fruit into its rose, new fruit goes into their red wine. My favorite out of 20 rose wines--MUST BUY. A+

2014 Gramercy Cellars Rosé Olsen Vineyard Columbia Valley WA
Pretty nose, low acid with a sweetly bitter midpalate with Jolly Rancher watermelon candy (RS) on the finish. A letdown; we expect better from this winery. D.

2014 Gilbert Cellars Wahluke Slope Mourvedre Blend
Ricotta cheese stink on the nose, dilute mid-palate; otherwise crisp and dry. We suspect this bottle had a mercaptan problem. I'll find out, as coincidentally I own (but haven't opened yet) two bottles. D.

2014 Charles Joguet Chinon Rosé Cabernet Franc
Great body, excellent balance. A pretty insufficient observation, I know, but I was enjoying it so much, that's all I wrote down.

2013 DeLille Cellars Doyenne Rosé Red Mountain
Pale, rich, classy. Just a touch of sherry on the finish though that's not a detraction. B-

2014 Ameztoi 'Rubentis'
Fine bubbles, banana candy, smoke on the finish. A people-pleaser: I called it a 'wedding wine' (more fun than interesting) and insulted the bringer.

2014 Ottella 'Rosesroses' from the Veneto, Italy
Crisp, minerally, perfectly balanced, good acid. Moreish. Another favorite. A-.

Surprised by La Bastide Blanche, usually good wines.
Joguet is usually excellent, hard to find, jealous.
NV Ametzoi? Not Ameztoi ? Ameztoi make a nice rose (Rubentis) but it's vintage dated (and doesn't sound like that).

[Jenise]

Surprised by La Bastide Blanche, usually good wines.
Joguet is usually excellent, hard to find, jealous.
NV Ametzoi? Not Ameztoi ? Ameztoi make a nice rose (Rubentis) but it's vintage dated (and doesn't sound like that).

AH! Yes, Ameztoi, thanks for the correction, and yes the Rubentis. But I couldn't find a vintage date on the bottle--light was very poor, and I didn't have reading glasses with me. Most likely 2014 then, as the guy who brought it reps it.

2014 Clos Cibonne Tibouren Côtes de Provence Rosé Cuvée Tradition
Gabe's bottle. Deep orange color. Dry and rich with fascinating complexity. Historic winery in Provence who started the Cru Classe designation, therefore the only winery in the region allowed to put the grape variety (Tibouren) on the label. Interesting factoid: this winery puts all its old vine fruit into its rose, new fruit goes into their red wine. My favorite out of 20 rose wines--MUST BUY. A+
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I love this as well. Try their higher-end bottling of this, the Cuvée Speciale des Vignettes. Costs a bit more, but worth it, imho.

[Jenise]

Mark, I'll ask about it. The guy who brought it reps it, so if it's in the state he can get it for me.

[David M. Bueker]

Welcome to the Rotberger club! I never thought I would see a note on such a wine. I tried a few here and there when I went to Germany, but have not seen one for sale in the USA.

Don't recall Rotberger from our trip to the Okanagan (when we visited Gray Monk) in 2002.

[Jenise]

David, don't know how long they've been growing the Rotberger, but the first time I had it was at the winery in, probably, 2005. I even brought a bottle home. And then I forgot about it until Bob Parsons mentioned it in the rose thread last month. That spurred me to hunt some down, and I'm so glad I did. It was delightful, and perfect for a room full of geeks. According to Wikipedia it's only grown in four places: B.C., Austria, Germany and Lichtenstein.

The Clos Cibonne rose' was getting some recommendations on wineberserkers.com. On my only visit to Oregon and Washington some years ago, we visited Two Mountain Winery. It started out as a fruit orchard operation and was still growing peaches, etc. when we visited. I was impressed with their Riesling and purchased a couple bottles but they did not hold up well at all--needed to be consumed the year after bottling. That may have changed by now.
I will be in Raleigh tomorrow and I'm picking up a Sancerre rose' and some others to bring back home. I hope they will have a few open or will be willing to open one or two for me to sample in the shop before purchasing.