Ten Delicious Roses - Just in Time for the Summer.

One of the true delights of the summer is the refreshment provided by a glass of cold, dry Rose. Unfortunately, people often see that pink color and run screaming, perhaps driven by a memory of some sickeningly sweet wine they drank early on in life. Poor Rose, simply a victim of mistaken identity. If you're a fan of Rose then good for you. You get it. If you see pink wine and want to gag then you're missing out. Rose' is one of the most delightful wines for the summer time and we really should clear up one big thing here about Rose: A good Dry Rose has NO AFFILIATION with that abomination of wine known as White Zinfandel. And its good.

We've been filling our shelves with some fantastic selections of BONE DRY rose for fans of the pink to quaff down this summer.

Ten Great Roses to Satisfy the Summer

# 1 2007 Chateau Grande Cassagne Rose, $9.99 - (our top pick!)
It is dry, refreshing and just about perfect for Southern Louisiana in July. Say it with us: "Dry Rose is good, Dry Rose is good…" For those of you who do not know either Grande Cassagne or the Costieres de Nimes, what this property is all about is trying (and succeeding) to produce wines mimicking their neighbors to the east in Chateauneuf du Pape. Their wines are all well made, they all show wonderful fruit, nice balance and this refreshing DRY rose made from a blend of Old Vine Grenache and Syrah is just what the Doctor ordered when the sun starts to set on a sweltering day down here. High on the slugabilty scale, this is also a wine that sits quite nicely on a dinner table with lighter summer food. We couldn't keep it in the store last year and there should definitely be some in your fridge this month.

The rest of our Rose highlights for the summer:

# 2 - 2007 Mas de Guiot Rose $10.99
# 3 - 2007 Mas Carlot Rose $10.99
# 4 - 2007 Domaine Montpezat Rose $9.99
A trio of DYNAMIC Dry Rose's all from the outstanding book of Robert Kacher Selections. We'd write something witty about each of them, but that wouldn't make them taste any better than they do - and believe us, they taste GREAT!

# 5- 2007 Kite Rose, $13.99
Wow! Russian River Pinot Noir, Amador Syrah, Napa Valley Cabernet Franc and Merlot. The juice is blended together, and then fermented cold, in stainless steel. Showing great complexity in the glass, its like each grape is yelling louder than the next one to be the best heard (kind of like my grandmother's house at Thanksgiving). (Ir)Regardless of all that, what you do need to know is that this is one seriously bad ass rose. That's right. We said ass. Its the internet, we can get away with that. Ass. Ass. Ass. (but drink the wine).

#6 - 2006 Domaine Chandon Rose, $11.99
At first we kind of thought this was a BS wine, just soft and fruity and kind of an afterthought by Chandon. The more we drank the wine the more we changed our mind. This is a wine made by the California branch of Moet et Chandon and it really is a nicely fruited Rose that's just a touch on the soft side, and that's why some will love it.

#7 - 2005 Domaine Fontavin Tavel, $3.33 (reg $15.99)
Tavel is the center of the Rose universe and although this wine is one vintage behind where it should be (hence the price), this little gem from the "world's capital" of Rose is just great and shows that often times these Rhone rose's are really just red wines parading as pink wines.

#8 - 2007 Ameztoi Txakolina Rose, $17.99
(thanks to Peter Demaison) This wine is incredible, simply incredible. Txakolina rose, a crisp, minerally and refreshing wine made in the Basque Txakoli (pronounced track-o-lee). After one bottle you'll be singing:(to the tune of Dana Carvey’s “Chopping Broccoli” );

And my lady, she went downtown
She bought some Txakoli
She brought it home.

Now we’re drinking Txakoli
Drinking Txakoli

We're Drinking Txakoli

Drinking Txakoli (repeat ad nauseum).

#9 - 2006 Bastianich Rosato Refosco, $13.99
Made from Refosco, an obscure red grape found in northern Italy. The result is a medium-bodied wine with some actual complex flavors (dark fruit and rose petals here) and on the palate its more of that plumy red fruit flavor. Very suprising wine, great for the New Orleans summer when you need to Air-Condition your palate, but still want a serious wine.

#10 - 2006 Mulderbosch Cabernet Rose, $3.33 (reg $19.99)
We really don't know how we got this wine at a close-out price from our distributor, but who are we to complain? All we know is that this full bodied, lush, elegant South African Rose (from a top estate, no less) at an eye-rubbing price. At this price you can buy all you want!