The Friday Five: Rosé edition
Five rosés I recommend for warmer days ahead 💕
Depending on where you live, Spring has either fully sprung or it’s so close you can almost taste it.
What does Spring taste like, you ask?
To me, it’s a crisp, bone-dry, slightly mineral-y, pale pink glass of rosé.
Call me a basic bitch, but I love my rosé, y’all. After many years of evolving my palette and gaining an appreciation for the finer things in life (read more about that journey here), I feel like I’ve developed a pretty solid rotation of consistently good rosés for various occasions.
This week’s Friday Five features a curated set of some of my favorite juice that I’m vibing on right now and think you will, too1.2
1. To Pretend You’re on Summerhouse
Hampton Water Rosé ($17.99 at Total Wine)
If you’ve watched an episode of the hit BravoTV show Summerhouse, you’ve seen this conspicuously placed on the counters of their bougie summer Hamptons rental, and for good reason. This bone-dry wine is from Languedoc in the South of France (my region of choice), easy to drink, and pretty to look at. I think the glass cork ups the classiness, don’t you? 💅
PSA for my Austin girlies - I found this at Bucee’s in Bastrop for $12.00(!)
2. For A Hostess Gift at Your Next Dinner Party
Musar Jeune Rosé (~$25-$30 at Central Market)
Dinner parties call for something a little more elevated than your everyday screw top. A gifted wine should be unique, but still sure to please a crowd and pair well with food. I discovered this Lebanese wine (made from Rhône valley grape varietals) at Flo’s Wine Shop in Austin. According to the brand, this dry, lighter-colored gem has a taste that’s smooth and rounded, with raspberry, almond and red appleskin aromas and a warm finish. In my experience, it pairs perfectly with a Napolese-style pizza.
3. For When The Closest You’re Getting to the Mediterranean this Summer is Your Desktop Background
Domaine Campu Vecchiu Rosé (~$15 at Twin Liquors)
It’s almost that season when everyone you know magically has the means to spend two weeks island hopping around the Med while you’re just wondering how you spend $50 every time you leave the house. This delicious wine is from the island of Corsica, off of the Southern coast of France near Sardinia. It drinks like a Provence Rosé (e.g., Whispering Angel) but it’s still under the radar so I think you’re getting a better bang for the buck.
4. For Impressing Your Bougie Sister-in-Law (hypothetically speaking, of course…) 😅
Scribe Rosé Pét-Nat 2023 ($38.00, Scribe Wine Shop)
Natural wine is having a moment. When you’re looking for something special to make an impression, I recommend this beautiful bottle from Sonoma-based Scribe Winery, of which we’ve been wine club members for years. Their brand is refined and slightly self-important in a very Californian way, but damn do I love their juice. Pétillant Naturel roughly translates to “naturally sparkling” and this rustic, ancient method aims to capture effervescence in the bottle without intervention. According to Scribe, this year’s release (2023) features notes of guava, lime blossom and sea salt. Mmmmmmm…
5. For Picnics, Porches and Patios
La Viellie Ferme Rosé Box (3L/4 bottles) $23.99
Rosé was made to be pounded in an outdoor setting. There, I said it. For most of living memory, pink wines were cheap, typically sweet, and usually made with the grapes that didn't make the cut for use in better red wines. So you’re really just paying homage to rosé’s humble origins when you drink it “liberally.” Enter the elevated boxed wine of La Vieille Ferme, a delightfully portable, decidedly-decent option for your next pool day. Good enough in quality to avoid a terrible hangover, but not too nice for a friendly game of Slap the Bag (IYKYK.)
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I only included recommendations that I’ve personally had and liked. I also tried to feature widely available wines at varying price points (because deliciousness and price are only somewhat correlated in my book.)
I just discovered footnotes and it makes me feel so academic, like I just cited a college paper using the Willy T. Library’s Lexus Nexus database.