You might have had to relinquish your white pants, but no one — not nobody — can take away your rosé. Welcome back to Bar Tab, this week celebrating the pink. Stems or no stems, straight out of the bottle or cupped in your hands, there is no wrong way to drink this wine that grasps on to the last sunlit hours of summer. So come on in, belly up to the counter and order a digital drink of pink (while it lasts) on us.
Barnard Griffin 2015 Rosé, Columbia Valley | That one time when we convinced the folks at Seattle Refined to put our editor and publisher on television and they came back with this glorious segment. A hot topic while on the tour of one of Washington’s oldest continuously operating wineries, Barnard Griffin’s 2015 rosé has been a longtime favorite for many in the state. Purely Sangiovese from a variety of vineyards throughout the Columbia Valley, this is summer fruit — strawberries, raspberries, watermelon — in a glass. Cranberry flavors emerge on the palate, among other rich, lush red fruits, and finish off-dry and round.
Little Farm Winery 2015 Rosé, Blind Creek Vineyard, Similkameen Valley | The husband-and-wife winemaking team behind this Similkameen Valley winery is focused on single-vineyard, minimal-intervention, small-lot production, homing in on expressing the natural character of the fruit and the place in which it hails from. In this case, the Cabernet Franc for the rosé came from Blind Creek, a vineyard sourced specifically for this grape and rosé in mind, located just over half a mile (one kilometer) from the winery’s estate vineyard. Everything you’d expect from Cab Franc is here: small red berry fruit enveloped with a sachet of herbs, baking spices, citrus zest, earthy mineral and dazzling acid for a dry, crisp and savory sipper.
EFESTĒ 2015 Rosé, Oldfield Estate, Yakima Valley | The second estate release from this family-owned and-operated winery, the Oldfield Estate vineyard is planted strategically next to those of legendary vine master Dick Boushey, who also runs the site for the Woodinville, Washington, winery. Winemaker Peter Devison shows a deft, consistent hand in this release of 88 percent Mourvèdre and 22 percent Grenache, compelling many across the Northwest wine media to choose this as a perennial pick. Satisfying for Francophiles (dry, floral, citrus-driven) as well as fair-weather, seasonal rosé drinkers, minerality and grapefruit dominant the bouquet and the palate flushes out in wild berries, gracefully braiding acid into full fruit to finish with vivacity.
Stoller Family Estate 2015 Rosé, Dundee Hills | From the state-of-the-art, LEED Gold (first in the world) and LIVE certified (one of the first in the Northwest) Stoller Family Estate winery, Willamette Valley native Melissa Burr is able to handcraft her whole cluster-pressed wines completely from the sprawling 200 acres under vine out her backdoor. The 2015 rosé is no exception: full bunches of Pinot Noir are pressed and fermented in stainless steel to reveal a succulent and tropical wine filled to the brim with fruit and white flowers. A fantastic introduction into Pinot Noir rosé from a stellar vintage, this wine is also available in a $91 three-liter bottle, which would be ideal to save for the Thanksgiving dinner table.
Coeur de Terre Vineyard 2015 Rustique Rosé, McMinnville | Major proponents for the designation of the McMinnville grape growing appellation, Scott and Lisa Neal planted their estate vineyard in the rugged foothills of the Oregon Coast Range with their own four hands. Centered mostly on Pinot Noir, the couple steps out of their set boundaries with a few blocks of Syrah and fuses the two together in this rosé. Pinot Noir is blended with a saignée of Syrah and laced with Riesling, creating a multifaceted thinker of a sipper, robust and rotund in dark stone fruits, zipped up and polished with spice, mineral and acid.
