For today, I’m sharing my all-time favorite pink with you. I originally
reviewed this wine back around Valentine’s Day, but it’s worth sharing.
This one is over and above my favorite rosé. It’s also really affordable, coming in around $14.00.

2007 Montes Cherub Rosé of Syrah

The cherub is actually a cartoon rendering by Ralph Steadman of Alfredo Vidaurre, a founding partner of the Montes winery.

Montes is a Chilean winery and this wine comes from their Archangel estate in the Colchagua Valley, close to the Pacific Ocean. This particular rosé is 100% syrah. The color is a ruby red, but still obviously a rosé. The particular color comes from the juice and the skins having a one night
stand. I’m not kidding. It’s called a vin de nuit – the wine spends one night only in contact with the red-grape skins.

On the nose I got, appropriately, roses. I still hate the cliche of roses on a rosé, but sometimes it happens. (A rose is rosé by any other name?) Of course, the scent wasn’t just floral, there was some undefinably red fruits on there too.

The taste and texture are what won me over. It’s a rich, ripe wine, filled with crisp cherries and raspberries. It’s also a wine with heft, dry without
tannins. There’s a lot of structure and balance and it completely fills up your mouth. There’s a long, pleasing aftertaste that still manages
to be gentle. I would go so far as to say this rosé is sophisticated.

At under $15, it’s also a great deal. Montes makes some great wines, including the equally affordable Montes Folly and the not-so-affordable but excellent Purple Angel.

The real endorsement? Even Kevin likes this wine, and as he likes to say, he’s still looking for his inner pink.

Rating:

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Parts of this post originally posted on Feb 13, 2009

2009 Mulderbosch Rosé, Stellenbosch, South Africa
$10.99, Dep’s Fine Wines (formerly Liquor Direct)

The Mulderbosch Rosé is made from Cabernet Sauvignon. Because it’s made from a hefty grape, so to speak, it’s a fairly hefty rosé, and would handle food nicely. In fact, the back of the bottle recommends crab cakes, chicken satay, spring rolls with ginger, herb rubbed turkey, ratatouille, and fruit-glazed pork chops.

The nose was lovely, filled with roses, strawberries, and cherries.

I found it started out a little like drinking a Sweet Tart candy. Now, I love Sweet Tarts, but I’m surprised when I find them in my wine. There was also a lot of tart cherry and pomegranate. As the wine warmed up a little, I noticed a slightly herbal finish, gradually supplanting all that tartness.

It’s a good wine, especially for the price.

Our review:

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That was me, last night. But we’ll get back to that in a minute.

It’s time for the monthly wine blogging activity Wine Blogging Wednesday. I’ve decided to mix it in with my own current initiative to Drink Pink.

The theme for this month’s WBW outing, hosted by Dale Cruse, is a grape by any other name. You see, grapes are the same the world over, but they have a lot of different names – often for the same grape. For instance, Primitivo and Zinfandel, Syrah and Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc and Fume Blanc, and so forth.

I happened to have a Spanish grenache sitting here for Drink Pink, and it happens to be labeled as a garnacha, so we’re in business.

Grenache, also called Garnacha, is one of the most widely planted red grape varietials, and is the most widely planted grape in Spain. Grenache is often found in Southern Rhône wines, which explains my fondness for it. I do love my Rhône. In fact, Grenache is often at least 80% of the blend of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Artazuri Rosado of Garnacha 2008, Bodegas Y Artazu, Navarra region
$10.99, Water Tower Fine Wines

The Artazuri rosé has this amazing bright color. It’s not really captured in the above photo, but it’s sort of the pink of my pinkest Playgirl Floribunda roses I planted outside our house, or the pinkest hibiscus flower. It’s pretty darn close to red, while still retaining all it’s pinkness.

On the nose there is a lot of flower and mineral, partnered by raspberry. Kevin commented that it was reminiscent of homemade raspberry pancake syrup.

It’s not a hefty rosé. Instead, it’s light and airy, calling out to be paired with seafood on a hot and sunny day. It’s filled with raspberries and some cherry and it goes down fast. Really fast. Kevin and I rarely finish an entire bottle of wine on the first night anymore, but I handily polished this one off last night (thus the quote at the top). As for Kevin? He had a glass or so, and he admitted it was good. But it wasn’t his kind of wine – it didn’t tap into his inner pink as our previous rosé had. He likes his pink wines to be less light and more heavy.

Our ratings:
Michelle  Kevin 

Thanks to Dale for hosting this month’s adventure!

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2008 Belle Glos Pinot Noir Blanc, Mendocino County, California
$18.99, Water Tower Fine Wines

Have you heard of Caymus? They're rather well known for their Cabernet. So well known, in fact, that in order to focus on some rather nice Pinot Noir, the winemaker had to open a separate winery. In 2001, that's how Belle Glos came to be. 

Belle Glos is distinctive for its wax-dipped bottles, a la Maker's Mark. The Pinot Noirs all have a dark red wax, but this rosé sports a brilliant pink. It's actually a gorgeous bottle. I had to have it as soon as I saw it in the store. (The wax has a pull tab, making it easy to remove from the top.)

The wine has a wonderful aroma of flowers and wild strawberries. You can see in the photo that the wine itself is almost a jewel-tone. The rosé is made from pinot noir, which is my favorite red grape.

I've never said this about a rosé before, but this is a sexy rosé. It makes sense, as pinot noir can be one of the most sensuous wines around, but rosé? My hats off to the winemaker. This has a lot of big dark berries and just a kiss of strawberry.

This isn't one of those light, prissy rosés; this wine has some heft to it. We drank it solo, but I bet it would also prove to be an excellent food wine, holding up to some heavier pairings.

Perhaps the biggest recommendation for this wine is that Kevin had several glasses and he likes to say he hasn't "found his inner pink." He's usually not a fan of rosés, but I think this one won him over. I also think it's worth the $18.99.

Enjoy!

Our review:

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Hope Estate 'Pink Awareness' Shiraz Reserve, Hunter Valley, Australia
Party Town, ~$12.99

While this wine may have a big purpose, it doesn't have a big punch. The nose is loaded with a lot of red fruit, which is fairly typical for an Aussie shiraz. It follows through with all that red fruit on the palate as well. There's a large amount of deep plum and dark cherry. On the finish, there's some kick – with a little bit of spice and cinnamon.

This wine isn't overly tannic – the tannins are almost soft, in fact. The alcohol level on this one is only 13.5%, which I consider blessedly low for an Aussie red. However, I do expect my Shiraz to pack a bit of a wallop and this one didn't. It's more of a gentle Shiraz.

Our rating:

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What it means is that I'll be reviewing two types of wine this month: wine that directly supports breast cancer research through purchases, and rosés, which are pink. Since it's Breast Cancer Awareness month, and even the NFL has gone pink, it's the least I can do. At the end of each post, I'll include a link where you can donate to the cause.

I'm one of the few people who hasn't been touched by breast cancer in any way. My family and friends have all been blissfully ignored by this particular cancer. However, that doesn't mean I don't live in fear of it a bit. I saw a statistic that other day that around 1 in 8 women will be touched by breast cancer in some way.

With that in mind, on with the cause!

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