Appellation of the Day: Tavel

Rose wines are the peonies of the wine world to me. In the middle of May, little by little, the aisles of the LCBO begin to become inflected with rose wines of all shades of pink, indicating that a beautiful summer is just around the corner. Soon, it seems like every end aisle display is positively bursting with rose!

I love rose. Not the pink, sparkling "wine zinfandel" (what IS that even?!) that some think of as rose, but the beautiful, acidic, bright, and just pretty to look at rose. In particular, I love rose from the Tavel appellation in the southern Rhone. It just makes sense that this region produces crisp, light, yet really flavourful rose wine - It's an extremely hot and dry part of France, and is there truly a better way to beat the sweltering summer heat than to drink a a crisp rose? I think not. Put some Tavel wine in my desert survival kit, please. 

The Tavel roses are not a blend of red and white grapes - It's made from red wine grapes (typically Grenache), but the skins only just come in contact with the pressed juices to create the pink hue of the wine. Tavel rose can have an alcohol content of up to 13.5%, which helps to balance out the inherent sweetness in the wine that's created through ripening in the intense heat of the region. Vintages has some really great examples of these wines on the shelf today. Every year, I look for the Chateau D'Aqueria Tavel Rose, which this year is priced at $18.95. It's a wonderful match for seafood or as your first glass of wine on a hot evening.. And I would say pairs perfectly with a relaxing Saturday night, typing a blog post, and singing along to David Gray.

Happy Drinking - And Happy SUMMER!

xx

AK

P.S. I do apologize for the lack of the accent aigu on the 'e' of rose - I haven't quite figured out how to add the accent into my text!