Ready for Summer? Here Are 16 Rosé Wines to Chill
No matter the time of year, just keep drinking the pink — and happy Pride!
There was a time in my life — OK, let’s be honest, in many of our lives — where if I saw a bottle of pink wine it usually was something super sweet, cloying, and frankly not that great. It usually was a “white zin,” which offered certain connotations — none of which were really favorable.
Then something shifted in the collective drinking spirit about 10 or so years ago when “rosé” became not only favorable, but highly desirable. You started seeing it at beach clubs, poolside bars, and hip restaurants. Southern French rosé, usually from Provence, with its light pink hue and notes of strawberry and watermelon, became so sought after to the point there was a — gasp! — shortage in the Hamptons. Somehow, those poor people survived.
These days, it’s easy to find fantastic bottles of rosé, with hues ranging from that soft pink and watermelon to salmon and raspberry and everything in between. And they don’t have to be from Provence to be delicious. If you’re willing to explore, you can find wonderful rosés from around the world made from pinot noir, syrah, grenache, cinsault, malbec, tempranillo, sangiovese, and even cabernet sauvignon.
Rosé’s color comes from a variety of methods, but the most popular is limited-skin maceration, when the grape skins sit with the juice after being crushed for a short period of time. And since the flavor profile of rosé ranges from light and refreshing to fuller bodied, these wines can pair with a variety of food. Yes, even steak and burgers (in fact, sometimes rosé pairs better than a full-bodied red).
Y’all know I’m not a fan of national [fill in the blank] day, but June 10 is National Rosé Day. To get you in the mood for it and rosé season, as many consider summertime — even though you can and should drink rosé year round — here is a selection of wines I’ve enjoyed lately from France, Oregon, California, Italy, Turkey, Spain, and more. One thing is for certain — there are a crap ton of excellent rosés out there. Use this list as a guide, but hit up your local neighborhood wine shop or superstore depending where you live. They will be able to suggest some great bottles, too.
16 Rosé Wines to Seek Out
2022 Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Rosato, Sicily ($30)
When I was in Sicily last year, I sadly didn’t get to visit the Mount Etna wineries, but absolutely flipped for this 100% nerello mascalese wine (grown in volcanic soil) when we had it on my birthday in Los Angeles in April. It’s savory, fresh, fruity, bold, and dare I say zesty?
2022 Ehlers Estate Sylviane Rose, St Helena, Napa Valley ($38)
I love that this wine is so much darker than “typical” rosé. It shows how versatile this category can be. It’s made from a majority of cabernet sauvignon with about 20% cab franc and merlot making up the balance. It’s got robust red fruit, good acid and a richer body.
2022 Viña Leyda Rosé of Pinot Noir, Leyda Valley, Chile ($14)
If I did a blind tasting, I would have thought it was a cab franc rosé. With grapes that grew within about 10 km of the Pacific, this wine is super fresh with great acidity and bright red fruit. But then it offered notes of green pepper, which threw me off, but was definitely delightful. I had it with sushi and a sip after a nice bite with wasabi and spicy mayo took this wine to another place.
2021 Broc Cellars Lone Pine Vineyard Lagrein Rose El Dorado County, Calif. ($30)
Another beautiful example of a darker rosé. I discovered lagrein, which hails from Italy’s Alto Adige region, within the last few years and fell for it. And I also have become a fan of Broc Cellars, an urban winery in Berkeley. This looks more like a hefty orange wine and drinks more like a natural wine. It’s fuller bodied and savory with cherry menthol notes. Let it open and drop an ice cube in it. Lagrein is better when chilled.
2022 Pomalo Frankovka (aka blaufrankisch) Slavonija, Croatia ($15)
Last summer, after melting in Rome (in the best way possible), we flew to Croatia to celebrate Scott Furman — and damn did we celebrate. Part of that was enjoying local wines from the nearby village on the island of Hvar. This wine comes from Croatia’s interior and it’s as fresh as what we had on the island. Its floral nose leads to cherry and raspberry. It’s fresh, bright, and is ready to celebrate Furman as much as we did.
2022 Illahe Tempranillo Rosé, Willamette Valley ($23)
In a land where pinot noir thrives, Illahe dared make a rosé from tempranillo, which thrives in Spain … and blew it out of the valley. The wine is so pale pink, it’s almost translucent, but the flavor is anything but clear. Strawberry, citrus, watermelon and such juicy, juicy loveliness. Call it a porch pounder if you must, but you’d be better served enjoying this slowly.
2022 Robert Sinskey Vin Gris of Pinot Noir, Carneros, Napa Valley ($36)
Drew and I recently had the pleasure of experiencing the Cellar at The Oakville, a new restaurant in Fulton Market. Here, they recreate the tasting from a Napa or Sonoma winery and right now it’s Robert Sinskey. We started with this gorgeous wine, that was whole-cluster pressed due to very low yields. You get grapefruit, blood orange, red berries, fantastic minerality and zippiness. I bought a bottle that’s sitting in my wine fridge now.
2022 Balletto Rosé of Pinot Noir, Sonoma ($25)
I’ve been a fan of Balletto ever since I got turned onto the winery years ago (and interviewed them in 2020 to see how the pandemic affected their business). This wine continues my love for Balletto. I love the color — it's more salmon than a rosé from southern France, but still light enough to engage fans of that style. Cherry, strawberry, orange peel, a hint of herbs and raspberry. It has a nice body that could be had on its own or with food, and the acid and minerality back that up.
2022 ONX Tracing Paper, Templeton Gap District, Paso Robles ($40)
You may not know much about wines from Paso, but it’s a special place. It stole my heart when I visited in 2021 and I can’t wait to go back. ONX is one of the cool kids residing in Tin City, a hip industrial setting with a number of wineries, breweries, and shops. This wine, made from tempranillo grapes, has a gorgeous peachy-pink hue with white peach and tropical notes, offering mango, pear and some spice. It’s a fuller bodied rosé with mellow acid, making it a great food wine.
2021 Selendi Rosé Akhisar, Turkey ($15)
This blend of almost 50 percent grenache with cinsault, mourvedre and shiraz comes from Ongor Family Vineyards in western Turkey’s Aegean region. This is Turkey’s first organic winery and produces everything sustainably — even the winery runs off solar power. Expect citrus, raspberry, brightness and an easy drinker.
2022 Côté Mas Rosé Aurore, Languedoc, France ($12)
This is one of those wines I stumbled upon at Mariano’s (of all places) maybe seven or eight years ago. It was a liter bottle and cost like $9. So I snatched it up and I’ll keep snatching it up — even if it has gone up a few bucks. This is one of those amazing value wines you want to keep in your fridge for everyday summertime sipping. It’s light, refreshing, goes well with food — or the beach.
2022 Domaine Nicolas Jay Pink Vinyl Rosé, Willamette Valley, Ore. ($35)
The name of this wine is a nod to founder Jay Boberg's days as a music executive for IRS Records and president at MCA Universal, where he worked with the Go-Gos, The Roots, R.E.M., and Mary J. Blige. If that’s not draw enough, the gorgeous light pink color along with the label begs you to open this bottle. Strawberry, watermelon, a bit chalky, dry, acidic, some cherry, and peach. The grapes were 100% handpicked and then fermented in stainless steel.
2020 Kind of Wild Syrah-Grenache Rosé, Pays d’Herault, France ($24)
“Clean” wine has become somewhat chic, if not a bit annoying. But this wine, made in the South of France with a 50/50 split of organic syrah and grenache, comes off a bit tart with red berries and slightly pre-ripe nectarine. But it shows some watermelon, giving it more roundness with good minerality.
2022 Hawkbox Rosé of Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills, Calif. ($85 for 1.5mL)
Who doesn’t want a magnum of rosé? It’s a limited production run from Reed and Megan Skupny (his dad started Lang & Reed, famed for its cab franc). Yes, it’s pinot, but has an herbaceousness on the nose with a fuller bodied and really nice minerality. You can taste the chalky soils balanced with watermelon and strawberry. It has a slightly orange hue peeking through the salmon colored wine.
2022 Colston Biblio Spot Lite Grenache Rosé ($28)
I love this label, made by Detroit artist Sheefy McFly. I love even more that this wine is a passion project from my pal, Matty Colston, who was the wine director at Parachute when the restaurant was first awarded its Michelin star. He makes cool cool cool wines and this is no exception. Its orange-pinkish hue leads to citrus and spice on the nose, followed by grapefruit and red fruit. If you want to support the little guy, this is your chance.
2021 Chateau Guiot “Crocodile”, Costieres de Nimes, Rhone Valley, France ($10)
It’s super pale pink with orange peel, fresh strawberry, and a bit of raspberry. It’s dry and crisp, very mineral driven, and made by a 9th generation vigneron. The name comes from a pink metallic crocodile on the label. This is a total porch pounder made easier by the screw cap. If you’re in the Chicago area, head to Vin in Highland Park or the city and grab a bunch.
SG LIST: What I am loving this week
Happy Pride Month!
It’s June and that means you’re seeing an abundance of rainbow flags — whether hanging up at someone’s house or as part of a brand campaign that supports the LGBTQ+ community. Pride continues to stir controversy and queer people are literally fighting for our lives and freedom around the world. Pride started following the Stonewall Riots and has become a global movement for equality, but queer rights has a long way to go. If you want to show support, here are some ways. Love is love!
Le Midi has Clos Cibonne on tap
For $14, get a glass of one of the most well-regarded rosé’s in the world. Just head to this cute wine bar/wine shop in Wicker Park and treat yourself.
20 best restaurants in Chicago, ranked
Tasting Table came out with this list in March and it somehow slipped by me. Until now. It’s a great list that includes new and old, swanky and mom-and-pop restaurants. You have everything from Johnnie’s Beef and Vito & Nick’s to Superkhana International, Virtue, Alinea, and Kasama.
Chicago Chefs Cook: Emilia-Romagna Dinner Series
You may have missed the news of the terrible flooding in northern Italy. Chicago Chefs Cook wants to help and is asking for your support. Between June 8 and 12, dine at more than a dozen participating restaurants — Monteverde, Tortello, Coco Pazzo, Nonnina, and Testaccio to name some — that will donate proceeds to the farmers and families devastated by the floods in Italy via Italian American Relief.
Test your wine knowledge
I just discovered Wine Spectator’s “What am I tasting?” a blind tasting quiz without actually tasting a wine. By offering an overall tasting note, you’re then asked various questions like varietal, country of origin, and the age of the wine. It’s a fun way to test your knowledge and, hopefully, impress yourself. I did with the first one quiz I took, but then completely bombed on the next. It’s actually a pretty good way to learn more about grape varietals, too.