Silly me

[Keith Levenberg]

I had a delicious bottle of Clos Roche Blanche 2009 Pineau d'Aunis Ros last week. I am not generally the biggest ros fan 'cuz too many, even the good ones (including many pricey Champagnes), have this confectionary, cotton-candied taste to them -- the ross I like are the ones that are so pale they are barely ros at all. This one fits in that bucket. A little carbonic spritz contributes to its racy profile and makes it probably the perfect summer refresher (too bad I didn't get to it until after Labor Day) that's hedonistic in the original, non-Parkeresque sense of the word, a wine to guzzle with thoughtless abandon. It seems to achieve the profile that wines like the Ameztoi Rubentis are shooting for but in my experience the Ameztoi has never pulled it off as well as this does. When the spritz mellows in the leftovers the next day, it retains the same edginess and bite, now derived as much from the usual tart, peppery kick I love in CRB's wines.

But wait! When I went back for more (all gone, as it turns out), Chambers Street informed me that the spritz was, er, unintentional: "Several people who tasted the wine recently discovered it to be re-fermenting, dry and with ptillant when it had been ever so slightly off-dry and totally still." Silly me! In any event, my bottle didn't give off any fermentive odors and the dry profile and spritziness accounted for a lot of what I loved about the wine. I actually much preferred it to previous vintages that weren't as bracing. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. But if anyone's looking for an excuse to ignore all my pearls of wisdom, here you go.

 

[Jason D]

I've had very fizzy bottles (the one we had yesterday had been open overnight and there was still enough fizz to form a quick little head on a poured glass), and I've had non-fizzy bottles. None of them qualified as "slightly off-dry" though.

 

[Sharon Bowman]

originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
(including many pricey Champagnes), have this confectionary, cotton-candied taste to them

Which ros champagnes are you drinking?

 

[scottreiner]

try the laissagne rose. had it for the first time the other day and it will be your bag.

 

[Sharon Bowman]

+1,000,000

 

[Jay Miller]

The one bottle I bought had definitely refermented so I didn't go back for more. A pity as I usually love that wine.

re rose Champagne - have you tried the Vouette et Sorbee Saignee yet? Definitely not pale but I think it may be up your alley.

 

[Unknown]

I am not generally the biggest ros fan 'cuz too many, even the good ones (including many pricey Champagnes), have this confectionary, cotton-candied taste to them

agree, agree and agree. Those do not make the queue here, but the ones that do are special and irreplaceable stuff.

 

[scottreiner]

originally posted by Jay Miller:
have you tried the Vouette et Sorbee Saignee yet? Definitely not pale but I think it may be up your alley.

seconded

 

[VLM]

originally posted by scottreiner:

originally posted by Jay Miller:
have you tried the Vouette et Sorbee Saignee yet? Definitely not pale but I think it may be up your alley.

seconded

Meh.

FWIW, I have had lots of CRB ros (my brother poured it by the glass for a while) in 2009 without any unnatural spritz or any suggestion of sweetness.

 

[Matteo Mollo]

I am digging the Pehu-Simonet rose these days. More on the savory side of pink champagne, which i like.

 

[MarkS]

Pearls? Before swine?

 

[Ian Fitzsimmons]

Age, before beauty.

 

[Morgan Harris]

I had Gardet 2001 Rose at a industry tasting yesterday. Really great balance between funk and fruit. They had a vertical of their vintage stuff, as well as most of their bottlings open. The house style in general was really funky. I liked it, but not exactly a svelte, sexy style.

Anyone had these wines/have thoughts on them? I'm such a champagne novice...