Rosé Flights at Veritas

This month I'm on the hunt for great Rosés. Pink wine still has this stigma about it that dates back to the 70-80's and the rise of White Zinfandel. Well I'm out to change that!

Rosé can be produced a couple different ways and no, there are no pink grapes! The pinkness can vary from pale-orangish color to bright, almost purple depending on how long the grape skins are in contact with the juice.  This is the most common way to produce a rosé, by letting the dark skins sit with the juice for one to three days before extracting them and starting fermentation. Another production method is Saignée or bleeding of the vats. This is where some of the pink juice is extracted during fermentation to impart more tannins on the red wine. The rosé in this case is a by-product. The most uncommon method is actually blending red and white grapes to make a single wine. This is looked down upon in most regions.

So enough history and background, let's get to the actual wines I found at Veritas Wine Bar in Dupont. Having one of the most extensive wine lists in town, I knew this was a place I needed to go on my hunt. Tis the season to be featuring a rosé flights, so I was immediately drawn to that.

The lineup of rosés were:
Wölffer Estate Rosé, Long Island, New York, 2011
Domaine Fougeray de Beauclair, Marsannay, France 2011
Château de Trinquevedel, Tavel, France, 2011

Ranging in color, all the rosés were bright and fruit forward. The first, Wölffer Estate, was the palest in color with a red fruit nose, smooth but short finish and very light in body, hence why it was first in the flight.

The second rosé was the brightest pink of them all. 100% Pinot Noir, this wine had a very light nose. I didn't get a lot from the initial sniff but my first sip was a tastebud explosion! Whoa, strawberry! The palate was much bigger than the nose and had a nice, long finish. Almost too fruit forward for me as I felt like I was sucking on a Jolly Rancher.

The final rosé was a Tannat from France. The nose had hints of minerality and floral notes. A little less fruit than the previous one, this wine was my favorite out of the flight. Easy sipper, pairs well with light snacks and a patio.

Ally ordered the sparkling War of Rosés flight which was equally as good! Also, a nice cheese plate accompanied our #alltherosés party.

Rosé, Rosé, Rosé. Veritas had quite the list, might be hard to beat! Who's next?