Best Picnic Rosés for 2024
“We are what we love.”My New Year’s resolution for 2024 is to keep this thought at the forefront of everything I do – remembering my passions and the people that make life worth living, instead of allowing myself to sink into the mundane rush of daily life.
Be ready for me to litter this blog with the exultation of my favorite things:) Be they erudite, like favorite film festivals or simple, like favorite flavors of jam (sour cherry, Mirabelle plum, and wild strawberry, in case anyone was wondering:)) Or even things I have yet to discover - cross-country trips and museum exhibits and fool-proof recipes. Whichever these loves turn out to be, I promise to remain on or near the subject of picnics:) That said, what better way to start off my lists for 2024 than with a glass of ‘picnic’ rosé? Well, three glasses, to be exact.
Having recently attended Fort Lauderdale’s SEAGLASS Rosé Experience, I enjoyed the rare opportunity to indulge in dozens of international vintages all in one sitting! And in doing so, I not only encountered three new wines to love, but I also learned something about myself I hadn’t guessed - which, after all, is the point of this exercise.
For years I was of the Cotes de Provence pale wine persuasion. The more bone-dry with hints of grass and minerals, the better. It was a firm rejection of ruby pink rosés, probably. I so disliked anything sweet that reminded me of the white zinfandels of my youth. Of course, I knew on an intellectual level that dark roses can also be premium vintages, but I just couldn’t bring myself to include a strawberry-hued wine in my picnic basket.
What I did not realize in my regional and color wheel intractability was that there existed a beautiful happy medium I had not hither too considered - wines from the Apennine countryside.
Following last Sunday’s tasting experience, my eyes have suddenly been opened to the lush, lemony, herbal wonder of Italian rosés! How could I have been so ignorant? Whether from Piedmont or Sicily, Italian wines are made for picnics. With their velvet creaminess, botanical notes, and joyful spice, they are my new go-tos for dining al fresco. I will save the Le Clos Peyrassol Rose 2022 for Valentine’s Day (ok, at $75/bottle it might be more like a 10th wedding anniversary;) and Whispering Angel for my next dinner party.
For 2024, my picnics will be rosato!
My 3 Rules for Picking a ‘Picnic’ Rosé:
It’s Gotta Love the Sun - Living in Florida you have to think about heat and its effect on your outdoor drinking experience. For example, a paper-dry rosé might taste heavenly in temperate climes (or a luxury hotel lobby), but on a sultry beach day, you will need a good way to keep that wine chilled and count on drinking it quickly! Once warm up, these wines can take on a flat quality that recently reminded me of over-chlorinated tap water. You tell yourself you’re enjoying it out of principle but are you really? Drink it out of a shatterproof glass, as you must near sand or pool (metal or acrylic, it makes little difference), and it’s vinous torture.
The same heat can also bring out the worst in fruity-sweet wines, with cloying berry flavors adopting a slight mildewy note in that sun-kissed plastic glass. Your only remedy is a dash of ice or going full cocktail by making sangria.
My choice instead is a bright wine with floral notes like rose petal and honeysuckle, and just a hint of citrus. These flavors layer well and have just enough room to grow, like ripening cheese, thus smiling the longest in your picnic glass, long after the pearls of condensation have puddled in your hand. The three wines in this list did just that.
It’s Gotta Look Gorgeous, Darling - My favorite rosés to whisk on outings are the ones that make a statement just by the grace of their color. I want to be enthralled and enchanted by their blush hue, hold it against the sunlight, bury my nose in its soft swirl. I want to point out its ethereal beauty and include it like a guest at my table, worthy of conversation.
It’s Gotta Ooze Romance - By this I mean the sum of its parts should evoke a fantasy. In my case, a post-Impressionist one with gingham blankets on riverbanks, stone farmhouses and lavender fields, saucisson sec, and guitar jazz…but that’s just me:) Whichever summery destination (or art historical era) your happy thoughts retreat to, your picnic wine should offer an escape via that intangible, wistful tickle of nostalgia. After all, picnics are themselves a fantasy - taking you out of your norm into a make- belief ephemeral setting, where you are the artist, the poet, the hero of your own story.
Now without further ado, my favorite finds from SEAGLASS - they do not represent all the wines available in the world, and certainly not all the rosatos in Italy, but they are definitely worth a look:) I also included a great widely available American label that also impressed at the show, offering a variety of beautiful pink wines…
My Favorite Wines from SEAGLASS:
1.PIERA MARTELLOZZO -Rosato DOC Friuli Grave - Clar Delune
“It's a night of the month of April and the founder Piera Martellozzo is delighted and fascinated by the great Pink Moon.” So begins the maker’s poetic description of this wine’s creation. It says something of the philosophy behind this clear and brilliant peachy rosé. The color is mesmerizing, the flavor dry yet velvety smooth. It contains my favorite notes of rose and grapefruit, cherry and spice, the perfect companion to charcuterie and stone fruit. But what made it stand out to me at the tasting event is that it’s the one wine I really wanted to keep drinking more of instead of buzzing on to the next popsicle stand, like all the other little bees in Gucci shades. It was exuberant and lively...and did I mention the color? I wish to be a better-versed sommelier to explain properly how much I enjoyed this, so all I will say is that I can’t wait to return to it at my next anything.
2. CANTINE NERVI CONTERNO - Il Rosato 2022
“Airy and fresh yet complex as well, the 2022 Il Rosato impresses with its lifting notes of rose, crushed stone, peach skins and lemon oil. Refined yet juicy and fruit-forward, this casts lime-tinged apple and green melon easily across the palate, energized by vibrant acidity. The 2022 buzzes with residual tension.” - Eric Guido
Clearly, the editor of Vinous Media is a fan of this Nebbiolo rosé, awarding it 92 points. This wine from the hills of Piedmont possessed for me a floral Mediterranean character that made me want to strap a straw basket to my bike and ride down a cypress-studded lane in a poplin summer dress.
3. WOLFFER ESTATE VINEYARDS - Finca Wölffer Rosé 2022
“Our Summer Inspired Wines evoke the style, sophistication and spirit of summer in the Hamptons. An elegant and vibrant wine with beautiful aromas of citrus, ripe berry, peach and a hint of sundried grass like the air in the Argentinian countryside.” Wolffer Estate Vineyards
I will let you peruse the detailed information this New York-based vineyard offers on its website about its wines on your own time. What I will say is that of all the American wines at the event, this collection stood out above the rest. Whether you go with the now cult-favorite Summer in a Bottle or the refined Gold Label rosé, you will find in each the backbone of a great drinking wine - a balance of creamy peaches and lively fruit with the requisite mineral kick that takes you to the wind-swept dunes of your dreams. My personal recommendation of the wines present was the Finca Rosé, developed by the winery from Malbec harvested at its sister vineyards in Mendoza, Argentina (hence the name). It was clean and refreshing, full of apples and pears with notes of fresh hay and a flinty minerality. In other words, a celebration of the Pampa! Ok, so maybe I wasn’t picturing gauchos when I took my first sip, but I loved its long dry finish and beautiful color. The $18 price point (well below its ‘summer’ companion) makes this an instant picnic classic in my book!