Rosé weather finally hit southern Oregon. These warmer days and lovely evenings beg for rosé wines. I am a real fan and have been for decades. One of the great attributes of a good rosé is its ability to give some depth to a meal while remaining thirst-quenching and fresh at the same time. All well-made wines have their place but I think a few things are happening with rosé which are of particular note.

First of all, there is a huge demand for rosé that really has not been experienced before. This is not to say that the sweetie blush wines have not been popular, but these are the serious wines of blush color — the dry, complex, multi-dimensional rosé. Many of these rosé wines come from single varietals and from lovely viticultural sites. 

The very first, serious dry rosé I can remember as a kid was from Almaden winery in Callifornia. This wine was an anomaly of sorts because there were few really dry, fresh rosé wines available in the 1960's except for those imported from Europe. The French rosé wines were the only wines, other than the Almaden offering, I could remember (as a retailer back then) that offered a rosé fit for cuisine.

Let's look at some very fine offerings sitting on the shelves today. All of these wines are under $20 per bottle.

Cowhorn 2009 Grenache Rosé  — Applegate Valley
Grenache, when done well makes a very lovely rosé wine. I have always enjoyed this winery's releases and I think its rosé is really quite something all around. The wine has very nice complexity, good palate weight, crispness and I think a very varietal nose, filled with nuance of grenache. Like all rosé wine, keep this offering cool but not frigid. I think you will like this wine quite a bit.

Velo 2009 Malbec Rosé — Rogue Valley
I like the way Gus makes this wine. The fruit is very clean, rich in malbec flavors and carries some serious weight on the palate for a rosé. The alcohol is also a very balanced 12.5 percent, so there is no heat to draw down the lovely fruit. Gus is a good winemaker and this wine shows how good he can be with producing a malbec and allowing us to feel and taste the varietal without being pounded by heat and oak that one finds from time to time in malbec rosé. Very nice offering.

Abacela 2009 Grenache Rosé — Estate Grown, Roseburg
I have always been a fan of this progressive, well run and very high quality winery. I have to say that this winery continues to make world class wines at every level and the rosé from granache is certainly no exception. Not unlike our friends at Cowhorn, this wine brings out the best in granache in the rosé style and keeps giving pleasure from the nose to the finish. This wine tastes to me as more of an Old World offering with a little more skin time and spice in both the nose and in the feel of the mouth. Delicious.

Stangeland 2009 Rosé of Tempranillo — Willamette Valley
This tempranillo rosé is one of the darkest of the rosé wines I have seen in a long time. Very tempranillo in the nose and in the taste sensations, this wine remains lovely throughout every level of taste. I also enjoy the weight, again this being the darkest of the rosé wines tasted this week. We had this wine with flank steak and it was just wonderful. I think this wine does best with heavier fare because it is fairly extracted and full for a rosé. Some months ago I had this wine with a Mexican dinner which held some spice and found it to be quite good with the heat and spice. Very nice.

Troon Vineyard 2009 Druid's Fluid
I love the old school "the wine for everyone" saying on the front label. This is very 1950's and makes me laugh. At the winery and on the back label it says "off dry pink wine," which is exactly what it is. There is no pretense as this wine is not quite dry, but not really sweet either. It is in this no-man's-land of rosé and if you chill it down really well it comes on as a very nice little glass of wine. 

Troon is doing a superb job in the Applegate with all of their wines and this little rosé seems to fit a niche in wine consumption which is very real and very popular. Not everyone wants tight, crisp fruit but would like some creamy softness to their rosé. Okay, here it is. This is your rosé. Chill this puppy down and have some fun. This wine takes the seriousness from rosé and, instead, gives the consumer a lot of nice, grape-driven, soft flavors for the money. Very clean, well made, less dry offering.

What’s your favorite rosé? Let us know in the comment section. You’ll have to sign up if you’re not a member of the WOW community. But its free, you do it once, and it only takes a few seconds.

Lorn Razzano is owner of the Wine Cellar in Ashland. Reach him at razz49@aol.com.