A warm summer evening in perched village in Southern France; that is the memory that always comes to mind when I drink a glass of Rosé.

To many, a pink wine means a sweet blush wine such as White Zinfandel. That’s what I thought. I would run away when ever anyone suggested serving me a blush wine. It was too sweet.

A dry Rosé is quite a different wine from the cheap blush wines. I discovered the dry Rosé wines of southern France on a 1996 trip to Nice and Corsica. We were sitting on the Cours Saleya having dinner and I noticed everyone was drinking a bottle of pink wine. What the hell, when in France do as the French do. We ordered a Rosé and it changed my drinking habits.

Every summer I search out Rosé wines. The selection is often limited to a few bottles. My favorites always end up being from France, usually Rhone or Provence. Needless to say, I was very happy when I saw that Becks and Posh’s choice for WBW #9 was Pink wine.

French Rosés are just arriving here in Seattle. I was fortunate enough to fine a nice Rosé from Tavel; Chateau de Trinquevedel 2002 imported by Kermit Lynch.

The Tavel appellation is located in Southern Rhône northwest of Avignon. It is the best known region in France for rosé and is a rosé-only appellation. Tavel wines are a blend of up to 7 different grapes. Grenache is the primary grape with up to 60% of the wine made up of Grenache. Cinault is the next primary grape with no less than 15%. The other red grapes used Carignan, Mourvedre, Syrah and white grapes used are Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picoupol and Calitor.

I found this nice write up of in the New Pioneer Co-op newsletter from Iowa!

Chateau De Trinquevedel Tavel ’02. If you have never found a Rosé wine that you liked, this will be the wine to change your mind. Hands down, this is the single best Rosé that has ever passed my lips and made a joyous pilgrimage to my gullet. Upon leaving the winery we were presented with a case of this elixir, and a select group of us chose to slake out thirst for the next six nights before dinner by guzzling a few glasses. It knocked the dust right out of our throats. There are nine grapes permitted in the blend and the Demoulin family, God bless, use each and every one of them.

This wine is very rich in color. It certainly is the heaviest and reddest looking Rosé that I have encountered. It has a massive nose of crushed strawberries and watermelon. It is fat, ripe, rich and decadent in the mouth, and then comes a long, cleansing finish. This wine is simply a delight to drink, and as I have said about fun wines before, if you don’t like this wine you’re probably the kind of person that kicks puppies and likes to make small children cry. Shame on you!

The wine is dark pink in color. You can immediately smell the red fruit. The taste is strawberry-watermelon with good balance of minerals and acidity. Crisp and dry. Drinking a glass felt like summer. This wine is light enough for appetizers but also strong enough to stand up to salmon or cheese. But do watch out for the alcohol level. It is a high 14%! Cost $15.

I had to get a jump on the upcoming salmon season. For dinner, I had a pan-friend filet of sockeye salmon, a caprese salad of organic grape tomatoes and mozzarella and some bi-colored corn on the cob. Time to roll out the BBQ.