Wine Focus July 2025 - Rosé All Day and All of the Night

[David M. Bueker]

Weather is hot, and it’s time to chill something down, whether still or sparkling. Rosé it is for this month, whether from Provence or Petaluma.

What’s your favorite grape for Rosé? I prefer Mourvèdre. It adds a little extra meat on the bone. Of course Rosé Champagne is really my preference, and that means mostly Pinot Noir and Meunier, though some of the better Cavas are taking up space in the drinking queue these days.

Good July thread. I will be away for 2 weeks from 14th in S AB but will take some pinkies with me.
No-one showed any interest in my post 2 days ago, whats going on here?

What’s your favorite grape for Rosé? I prefer Mourvèdre. It adds a little extra meat on the bone. Of course Rosé Champagne is really my preference, and that means mostly Pinot Noir and Meunier, though some of the better Cavas are taking up space in the drinking queue these days.

Those are exactly my feelings about Mourvèdre for rosé, especially from Bandol. And pink champagne too, of course. Pinot derived Sancerre rosé can also be excellent and I have a soft spot for Palette rosé from Château Simone (Granache 40%, Mourvèdre 30%...).

I listen regularly to the YouTube videos of Konstantin Baum MW and he quite recently did a comparative tasting of bottles of the same rosé which had been subjected to different levels of light exposure through the clear glass of their bottles. His conclusion was that even quite short exposure (a day or so) to bright light had a noticeable effect on freshness and quality and that a longer exposure could produce "off" flavours. For marketing reasons clear glass for rosé sems almost universal and most retailers here feel it necessary to display these bottles under strong light. So as to minimize this "light strike", I find myself taking bottles from the darkest place at the back of the shelves or from an unopened carton.

[David M. Bueker]

I always grab Rosé from the back or way at the bottom of a rack for the exact same reason.

Very timely topic with temperatures soaring here and elsewhere (and with me just ordering some Ode to Lulu, which alas won't arrive until cooler weather does). My favorite rosés are those from Mourvedre and Cabernet Franc, though I've also had some good ones from Pinot Noir. And let's not forget Steve's Bone-Jolly rosé, so I guess I should include Gamay as well.

What’s your favorite grape for Rosé? I prefer Mourvèdre. It adds a little extra meat on the bone. Of course Rosé Champagne is really my preference, and that means mostly Pinot Noir and Meunier, though some of the better Cavas are taking up space in the drinking queue these days.

Those are exactly my feelings about Mourvèdre for rosé, especially from Bandol. And pink champagne too, of course. Pinot derived Sancerre rosé can also be excellent and I have a soft spot for Palette rosé from Château Simone (Granache 40%, Mourvèdre 30%...).

I listen regularly to the YouTube videos of Konstantin Baum MW and he quite recently did a comparative tasting of bottles of the same rosé which had been subjected to different levels of light exposure through the clear glass of their bottles. His conclusion was that even quite short exposure (a day or so) to bright light had a noticeable effect on freshness and quality and that a longer exposure could produce "off" flavours. For marketing reasons clear glass for rosé sems almost universal and most retailers here feel it necessary to display these bottles under strong light. So as to minimize this "light strike", I find myself taking bottles from the darkest place at the back of the shelves or from an unopened carton.

Very reasonable. Beer bottlers have long understood that photochemical reactions lead to "skunky" lagers, so always bottle in colored glass (except for Miller High Life -- I sat next to a salesman from Alfa Aesar [chemical supply house] on an airplane once who told me that Miller Brewing Company was their biggest customer for sodium borohydride, which they used to chemically reduce the chromophore to permit bottling in clear glass ). I'm surprised that wineries persist in using clear glass.

I'm with you on mourvedre roses, David.

German whites are almost always bottled in green or brown glass precisely because white wines are so light-sensitive.

-Paul W.

[David M. Bueker]

German whites are almost always bottled in green or brown glass precisely because white wines are so light-sensitive.

-Paul W.

That and they basically look like various shades of pee.