Yes it's Rose & no it's not the crap your Dad drank in the 70's!

So many Americans think of Rose as the sweet cloying wines of the seventies that once were so popular! If it were up to me I'd give it away for free just to make some converts. Maybe I could switch some people over from White Zin or that horrid Arbor Mist?

If your lucky enough to have a decent wine store in your neighborhood there are some great examples of what true Rose really is. Fresh, nose of strawberry, raspberry, fresh juicy cherry balanced by crisp acidity. Some have much more fruit than others, in this category Grenache based ones shine!

I have heard some can benefit from some bottle age though most are meant to drink fresh. In a recent side by side I compared Solo Rosa 05 to 06. Big difference! The 06 had much more going on fruit wise compared to 05 which had started to close up already. I'm on the lookout for a Vina Tondonia from Rioja which are released with quite a bit of bottle age. I suspect some of the heartier Italian varietals may do good with a little age so I've bought a few to experiment on!

Let's hope summer never ends in the Big City because after September these great wines just seem to disappear from lists everywhere!

My favorite this year so far? Verget Du Sud Rose De Syrah from Vin De Pay Vaucluse in the Southern Rhone comes in at around 11 dollars in NYC a steal for this summer time refresher filled with strawberry, a weird touch of mint, nice acidity with a clean medium finish.