It's not every day we get a Corsican wine, and its not every day when that wine has 90% Nielluccio (a grape we're used to having in smaller percentages as a blending grape).
But we got both of those with Yves Leccia's E Croce Patrimonio- a flavorful red wine that reminded us a lot like a nice Syrah!
As far as Spanish wines are concerned, we are often hit-or-miss with the hot climates resulting in very ripe grapes that lower acidity and increase alcohol.
One exception for our tastes is the Priorat region, which often has some delightful Garnacha-based blends that we quite enjoy. Roca de les Dotze Noray is one such bottle, and the aged blend of Grneache, Carignan, and Syrah hit our tastes perfectly!
We received this bottle as part of our Vinera Wine Club sample provided for review. As always, all opinions are our own.
We take wine recommendations from strangers very seriously.
When we were at an agriturismo in Sicily, we met a lovely couple from the south of France that told us their favorite Provencal rose comes from one specific producer- Domaines Ott. They were adamant about it being the best, so much so that we knew we had to find a bottle.
We were lucky to sample it once at a restaurant, and finally stumbled upon a bottle of the Le Chateau de Selle Rose locally and picked it up despite its high price tag. Although we'll be the first to admit that the price we paid was a bit more than we would've preferred, this was quite the tasty rose!
We have to admit, we have a bit of a love affair with Pares Balta, particularly their Cava Blanca Cusine– an often aged Cava that comes packed with incredible flavor.
Since we loved the Blanca Cusine so much, we naturally wanted to try their Rosa Cusine- the rose equivalent in the same aged Cava series made with Grenache. While it may be less common to discuss aged rose, for this one, eight years of age was just starting to show its true potential.
We always love stumbling upon older bottles in the wild, and when we saw Domaine de Nizas Le Clos from 2013 (over a decade old) available at a local bottle shop, we knew we had to give it a try.
While it is possible that this Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre blend from Languedoc was perhaps past its peak, it still had a great of liveliness in it that made for a delicious pour!
When studying for WSET Diploma, I leaned heavily on rose wine to fully understand how this wine style is made. One method, rose de saignee, was always rather interesting to me as a portion of red grape juice is bled off the skins during soaking. The bled off portion is made into rose wine, and the remaining wine continues maceration on the skins to extract more color and become a red wine.
Compared to other rose winemaking styles (blending and direct press, for example), rose de saignee is often darker style as a result. The intensity of the color is a dead giveaway in most cases, and one region in particular, Tavel in the Southern Rhone (one of our favorite regions), is historically known as a top producer of rose de saignee wine.
So when I stumbled upon a bottle of Chateau de Trinquevedel Tavel in the store, I knew I had to grab it to give a rose de saignee wine a try.
If you love a good Rhone red blend the way I do, you may wonder if any other regions in the world can make a killer blend that would stand up to these famous French wines.
In South Africa, producer A.A. Badenhorst makes a pretty delicious bottle that packs a bit more of a punch than you'd expect thanks to being a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Cinsault plus Tinta Barroca and Touriga Nacional for good measure.
This one certainly did not leave us wanting more for complexity!
It only took a while after arriving in Washington that we realize this state produces some pretty incredible grapes. Not only that, but Washington wineries tend to produce similar to two renowned Old World styles- namely Bordeaux and Rhone blends.
As we are fans of all things Rhone wine (less so Bordeaux, if we are being honest), we were drawn to sampling as much Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre as we could in Washington.
So when we were visiting Latta Vineyards outside of Seattle (after trying a bottle of their amazing Grenache), we found ourselves heading next door to Rotie Cellars immediately thereafter. As the name comes from one of the best wine regions in the Rhone (making arguably some of the finest Syrah in the world), we knew we had to give them a try.
As it turns out, their Southern Rhone Blend was a winner!
We have becoming bigger fans of Grenache the more we drink it, especially Grenaches grown in Washington and Oregon in particular.
When we had a chance to try out Willamette Valley Vineyards Griffin Creek Grenache courtesy of wine service Divvy-Up, we jumped on it and opened the bottle for Thanksgiving dinner just a short while after it was delivered.
When it comes to rose wines, we can enjoy them any time of year for any reason with (almost) any food pairing. But some rose wines rise above the rest and become something truly special worth savoring and pairing with the very best food.
Jaine's Sustainable Vineyards Rose is one such wine, and this 100% Grenache rose may go down as our very favorite yet.