The name of this wine is a very long and very French way of saying that this is exactly the kind of rose that makes me smile. It’s cheap and it’s dry, but more importantly, it”s full of summer and backyards and porches and barbecues.
The des Oliviers ($10, purchased, available at Spec’s) is from southern France and is mostly made with cinsault. In this, it’s firmly in the French style – some fruit (in this case, cranberry), but not the big dollops that give the impression of sweetness and so confuse so many wine drinkers into thinking pink wine means white zinfandel. This wine is about as far from white zinfandel as possible.
Also impressive: The des Oliviers is a bit floral on the nose, and its clean, crisp finish leaves you ready to take another sip. Serve this chilled on its own, or with any summer activity. Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2013 $10 Hall of Fame.
My June wine column in the magazine focuses on roses, which should be out in the next week or so. If you can’t wait that long, or want even more on roses, my wine blog’s annual rose feature posts on Thursday.
