Everything's coming up rosés

I can remember when I used to think all pink wines were sweet. After all, the range of colors suggests everything from cotton candy to cherry flavored Lifesavers. So for many years I refused to try dry rosés.  They frightened me.  I thought they would taste like White Zinfandels.

While I can't remember the exact year that I gave in -- sometime between 2001 and 2005, I do remember precisely where I was. It was a restaurant in Manhattan, where I was living then. I was meeting my friend Marjorie Shaffer for a drink at Marseille, a Mediterranean restaurant on 9th Avenue near my apartment. Marjorie and I loved to visit good restaurants and sit at the bar. We learned a lot by chatting with the bartenders, who often let us taste different wines before we ordered.

Those were wonderful days in which Marj and I explored our great love for food and wine. She went on to write the book Pepper: A History of the World's Most Influential Spice (Macmillan). And I wrote about food and wine for Reuters, before moving to St. Louis where I began a weekly wine column for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

On that particularly warm evening at Marseille, the bartender encouraged us to try a dry rosé from Provence. I'm ashamed to admit that I was hesitant. The guy had to convince me, but I'm so glad he did. Now I'm totally hooked.  Not only was this the most beautifully colored wine I'd ever seen, but it was so incredibly refreshing. It was just the perfect thing to drink that night.

Then I moved to St. Louis in June, 2005. Dry rosés were far from plentiful. Sales folks at wine shops told me there was just no demand for them and it was difficult -- as it had once been in my case -- to convince customers to try them. But thank goodness, things have changed a great deal since then.

For example, in early June I enjoyed a flight of dry rosés at Remy's Kitchen and Wine Bar with colleague Saraann Parker. We particularly liked the Borsao from Spain's Campo de Borja. It's made from 100 percent garnacha (grenache).


Even some of grocery stores have quite a selection and new rosés are constantly coming on the market.

A case in point is Schnucks, a regional grocery chain based in St. Louis. During a recent visit I found a surprising number of them from different wine growing regions including the M. Chapoutier Belleruche 2013 Dry Rosé Côtes du Rhône and the Marqués de Cáceres 2013 Rosado Rioja. Both are featured in my June 3 column. 

Many dry rosés are quite affordable, often under $15. Since the selection is greater during the summer months, now is the time to try  dry rosés from different regions and made from different red grapes.  One of my favorites is from Spain, the Muga 2013 Rosado Rioja, which I found locally at the Wine Merchant. It's made mostly from garnacha with viura and tempranillo.  Another good Spanish rosado is the Las Rocas.

There are also plenty of delicious domestic dry rosés. Some I've enjoyed recently include  two new releases, the River Road 2013 Rosé of Pinot Noir and Simi  2013 Sonoma Country Dry Rosé, made mostly from Cabernet Sauvignon with some Malbec and a little Pinot Noir.

Depending on where you live, retailers may only maintain a good selection through the summer, so stock up when you can. These are delightful wines any time of year, but they are particularly good on a warm afternoon. Remember to serve them chilled and to look for the most recent vintage, as they lose their freshness with age.

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