Here is the Garagiste schpeal:
Weekend: 2013 Rosé
Dear Friends,
After tasting 300-400 examples of 2013 rosé over the last two months (from far and wide in France), there is no way to sugar-coat the obvious: this is a tough year.
The very best examples are excellent but there is an enormous gap between the merely palatable and the enjoyable. In most years, we find a wide ocean in the middle – in 2013, that ocean is reduced to a trickle from a leaky pipe in your backyard. While most of the top names have confirmed their standing (even in a tough year, they produced exemplary wine), a good number of famous properties have bottled ho-hum offerings that should be reduced in $. We will see if that happens.
Far from a 2002 Rhone or 1997 Bordeaux type of campaign, it is not a complete wash-out but the Grenache did have difficulties. Wine after wine (based on Grenache) had piquant/unripened acidity and a nondescript persona. They were not necessarily “bad” but they had nothing to get excited about. After searching far and wide for Grenache, it was evident that I had to look elsewhere.
So, why not look for examples that rely on Cinsault, Syrah and others (that were more sound and more successful in the vintage)?
That’s exactly what I did and there are nuggets of 2013 raspberry gold to be had.
Such as…
OURS!
In the Chenançon vineyard (where the rosé is grown):The schpeal continues:
The schpeal continues:
2013 Colline de l’hirondelle Ventilo Rosé 750ml
From the rarely tasted Chenancon varietal (grown near Carcassonne), the Ventilo rosé gives the taster a fun and deeply colored summer bottle bursting with energy and sunshine. Like the Margui above, it has snap, crackle and pop aligned to riper and more unctuous wild raspberry fruit. The soil tone comes through as well with a long finish (especially for the vintage). Nothing profound, but who cares when its delivered in a package that is hardly attempting to redefine world politics. Of all the 2013 rosé I’ve tasted, the Ventilo hit the sweetest spots without being sweet at all (it is quite dry). What rosé is all about. BIO/organic.
For more info on this cute as a button entity: http://collinedelhirondelle.com/
And other photos for those of you not on Instagram !
