Five Favorites – Refreshing Rosé!

Five Refreshing Rosé Wines Under $20

This is the second installment of our Five Favorites series and today we’re focusing on five more fabulous wines for summer after delving into five great Barbecue Wines last week. The topic today; however, is a type of wine that is simply perfect for the patio on a hot summer day. Served chilled and with delightfully satisfying flavors, today is all about Rosé.

Now, to be sure, we’re not talking about White Zinfandel and the like…today’s Rosé wines have evolved way beyond that. If that’s still your idea of Rosé then you definitely need to experience some of the wines below and watch your paradigms shift. There’s also, of course, the whole question of whether a member of the male species can survive a pink drink without receiving at least a tad bit of ridicule from his buddies, but I think we dealt sufficiently with that issue here.

So now, without further ado, I give you Five Refreshing Rosé Wines Under $20!

Zonte’s Footstep Scarlet Ladybird Rosé
100% Cabernet Sauvignon from South Australia with an SRP of $15 and available at that price. This wine begins with wonderful aromas of strawberries and tantalizing floral notes. That’s just the beginning however. Tasting the wine reveals an incredibly fresh lip smacker, but hold on, it gets even better still! The finish adds some unexpected spicy tannins that balance out the sweet fruit perfectly and the refreshing berry flavor lingers…and lingers some more. The contrast between the sweet berries and the tannins on the finish is really fantastic.

Banfi Centine Rosé Toscana
A blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from Tuscany, Italy. SRP of $11 and available widely for $10. You don’t find many rosé wines from Tuscany which is too bad because if they are anything like this one we’re all missing out. The Centine rosé begins with an aroma of fresh, succulent strawberries and a touch of sea salt. Tasting the wine shows creamy berry flavors with some light mineral undertones. This is a very refreshing wine that only gets better and better as you drink it. Another patio all-star on a hot summer day!

Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé
A bulk buy earlier this week, this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon rosé from the Central Coast of South Africa has an SRP of $12 but is available for only $8 at Costco! In an article on rosé we’d be remiss to point out that these wines are incredibly flexible in terms of food pairings. You can throw just about anything from summer salads to bratwurst at these babies and find a wonderful pairing, which is certainly part of the allure. This particular wine begins with enticing aromas of berries and watermelon and then moves on to some excellent juicy fruit and underlying minerality. The finish is dry and leaves a lingering hint of berries and sea salt. I could easily and happily sip this all summer.

Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare
71% Grenache, 16% Roussanne, 11% Grenache Blanc and 2% Mourvèdre from California. SRP of $15, but should be widely available for around $13. OK, OK, so maybe this is not technically not a true rosé (which are made from red grapes), but so what, this is fantastic! For this wine Bonny Doon blends in 29% of a Rhone white blend along with the Grenache, a style that’s called a Vin Gris. The result is a wonderful aroma of strawberries, flowers, and watermelon followed by apples, citrus and watermelon when tasting. It’s not overly sweet and perfectly balanced with great minerality and acidity. So crisp and fresh that you could guzzle this one on a hot day! I can’t imagine summer without it.

Lucien Albrecht Crémant d’Alsace Brut Rosé
Since we may already be pushing you out of your comfort zone with these rosé wines, let’s go all out and add in a sparkling rosé! This wine is 100% Pinot Noir from Alsace, France. It has an SRP of $20 but can be found for $14. It begins with delightful aromas of strawberries and cherry and then strawberries, cream and a dash of salt when tasting. A crisp and refreshing wine with good acidity, so again, you should have lots of pairing options. Simply delicious!

All wines were samples received for review purposes. Click through to the full posts for all the details on each wine. See a listing of local retailers selling these wines here. Up next in our Five Favorites series: California Cabernets!