Great Wine Values: Guigal Côtes-du-Rhône Rosé Rhône Valley, France
The flavor of this superb dry rose is reminiscent of fresh, unsweetened berries, like wild strawberries and raspberries.
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It's going to be a warm weekend, so why not stock up on this superb dry rosé while it's still on sale?
Pink wines add a dollop of red-berry flavor complexity to the chillable refreshment of white wine and have been a staple of Europe's warmer vineyard regions for centuries.
They are particularly central to the culture of the south of France, Provence, and the neighboring Rhône Valley region. Like the more common red Côtes-du-Rhône, the pink variant is also usually a grenache-based blend.
However, its grapes are typically harvested earlier to preserve their vibrant acidity and avoid the higher alcoholic strength produced by greater ripeness.
Most important, this region's rosé wines are traditionally fermented all the way to complete dryness, stripping away every shred of sugar to ensure a food-friendly finish after each sip that is eminently French.
The result is wines like this one, whose flavors are reminiscent of fresh, unsweetened berries, like wild strawberries and raspberries.
Guigal Côtes-du-Rhône Rosé, Rhône Valley, France, $12.99 (regularly $14.99, sale price through April 30, 2017), PLCB Item #4889.