Today is Wine Blogging Wednesday (WBW) and the subject for the day is Dry Rosé. This is my first WBW, so please be gentle.
Monday was my birthday. I guess I had a “happy” birthday, but I am not really sure what that entails, exactly. When I was a kid, it was fairly easily defined as getting a bunch of really cool presents, but as I grew older, birthdays gradually became just another day.
Now this is not a gloomy, “Oh woe is me!” type of post, not at all. It is more that there is all this inherent pressure to have a “happy” birthday that I really don’t understand. As I sat down to write this (and concoct some way to connect it to Dry Rosé) I attempted to figure out why I have a rather blasé view of birthdays.
First of all, my birthday is in the summer, which means growing up I never had the school birthday party. Does that make me a little bitter? Probably, but I think I would need several sessions with a therapist to figure that out and frankly, I would rather use that money to buy a few bottles of champagne, so I’ll just leave it there.
Second, my birthday also happens near the end of summer, which is by far my favorite season, and I do not feel like celebrating the shorter days and longer nights that will soon follow. August is also a rather boring month–every other month has at least one holiday (or pseudo-holiday) associated with it, but not August. Meh.
Third, as I became known as a “wine guy” there has been the added pressure of needing to drink something “really good” on my birthday. I guess I get that, but if I don’t feel like celebrating in the first place….
My wife insisted we do something, so we had a few friends over on Saturday to “celebrate” (two days before the actual birthday) and I pulled out a 1993 Dom Pérignon since I felt like our guests expected me to bring out a “big gun.”
It was oxidized.
That sums up my view of birthdays: you can try all you want to make it “happy” but ultimately, it is generally out of your control, so why get all worked up about it?
My actual birthday was particularly unsavory–it was on a Monday (I am not a big fan of Monday) and I had to work (I am not particularly enamored with my job right now). Despite a couple of co-workers saying “Happy Birthday!” (one said it with what must have been two or more exclamation points), it was pretty much like any other day. I also had to work on Tuesday, so it was not exactly prudent to uncork a bunch of great wine to “celebrate” the day that I was born. (By the way, I think Tuesday gets off far too easy–Monday gets all the disdain, but for all intents and purposes, Tuesday is just as bad.)
So how does this relate to Dry Rosé?
It doesn’t, really.
It seems as though in the wine blogging world there recently has been a revelation of sorts that dry rosé is the newest, greatest style of wine.They also seem to talk about it only during the summer (similarly, wine writers only seem to talk about sparkling wine around the holidays).
Well, not to sound like a pompous jerk, but I do not get why there is all the fuss. Don’t get me wrong–I love dry rosé.
Love it.
But we have been drinking it for years and we drink it all year round. Dry rosé (to be more precise good dry rosé), along with (good) sparkling wine are the two most versatile styles of wine when it comes to pairing with food.
So I am sorry, just like with birthdays (caution: weak attempt to tie it together approaching), I do not understand the fuss over dry rosé–it should be a part of any wine drinker’s year-round repertoire.
This year, on my birthday, I pulled out three dry rosés that I had received as samples to take with us to one of our favorite restaurants. I passed over the 1988 Clos Vougeot, the 1964 Haut Brion, and the 2002 Leroy Meursault in the cellar in favor of the wines listed below. Why? Mainly because I like dry rosé, I was not sure if I wanted fish or duck, and it was a Monday, just like any other day (except that it happened to be my birthday).
2012 La Crema Pinot Noir Rosé: Retail $25. Medium to dark color, with a nose of strawberry, cherry, and a bit of heat. On the palate, the strawberry jumps to the front and really dominates in a good way. The finish is a bit lacking in acidity and has a bit of chalkiness, which seems a tad out of place. Good to Very Good. 86-88 Points.
2012 La Rochelle Pinot Noir Mcintyre Estate Vineyard: Retail $24. Very light salmon color with a floral, sour cherry nose. On the palate, nice acidity, but a bit lacking in fruit. The acidity screams for some food and the wine rounds out nicely when the plate fills up. Very Good. 87-89 Points.
2012 Ponzi Vineyards Pinot Noir Rosato: Retail $20. Medium color with a great nose of red berries and a bit of vanilla. On the palate, expressive fruit and balanced acidity. Out of the three, this stands above. Great on its own as well as with food. Very Good, on the verge of Outstanding. 88-90 Points.
the drunken cyclist 
My view of birthdays is that with every year that has passed since childhood they have become less and less important. I, too, have a summer birthday, which was fine especially if I compared it to my dad’s whose came just a little too close to Christmas…
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Good point on the Christmas birthday (my mother’s is 12/20)!
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Definitely too close for comfort!
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I agree! I used to view my birthday with great anticipation, but now it’s just not that exciting. My birthday is New Year’s Day… so by the time I get through the stress of Christmas and the parties of NYE, I am too tired to celebrate my day.
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Yeah, NYD has to be a tough one!
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Excellent post, Jeff. Happy Belated Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I really hope that at least between your and mine posts, we got at least one person to look at rosé seriously?
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You did! I tried a Dry Rosé for the first time on Monday and enjoyed every sip! (Honestly, I was only out to try a Rosé because of all the buzz recently on these posts and inadvertently ended up trying the correct type for the submissions. I was excited!)
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Glad to be of help : )
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Yes! A potential convert!
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I think there is also a bit of a chicken/egg argument here: people will start to take rosé seriously when there are more serious rosés on the market. Wineries will start to produce more “serious” rosé once they see there is a market for it.
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Sounds like you had a pleasant (not happy) birthday! And, you should take treats to work since you never got to as a kid. You’ll be a rock star.
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Never thought of taking treats to work! Great idea! Now if I only could find a job that I liked….
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What, none from Provence? All Pinots? I am a big advocater of dry rosé and am soooo guilty of only drinking it in the summer. Sparkling however, I drink that all year round, as often as possible (note to self, post about sparkling before Christmas). Booo to that DP being oxidized. The same happened here on NYE with a Magnum of vintage Veuve. Happy Birthday all the same!
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Thanks for the wishes and the comment! I will remind you in October to break out a rosé! Too bad about the magnum 😦 Just curious, what year?
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It was a 1995. I will make a point of autumn rosé drinking. p.s. My birthday was on a Monday too (rubbish).
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Happy Birthday- (a tad late)
All the best for a Grape Year!!
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Thanks so much!
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Cheers! Happy belated birthday! I think I need to try some Rose’.
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Thanks WTF!
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Despite your lukewarm feelings about it, Happy Belated Birthday! If feel a litle meh about it too unit was my special day and I have to open my own good vino.
I wanted to post about how I came to love Rose, but that involves a beach with a bunch of topless model types. And I’m a family blog. Ok, I had to snicker at that. I didn’t post bc in lazy. Wil try next week!!!
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You Ann Arbor Bohemian types are all the same….
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Always enjoyable and informative! At least none of those three rosés were a complete let down on your ‘big’ day! Happy un-birthday to you!
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Thanks so much!
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Happy birthday man, I hope you had a suitable celebration with the Dr.
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We had a nice dinner, thanks!
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My sister and I have summer birthdays 3 days apart. (10 years and 362 days). We celebrate a “birthday season”, which is just a very long period of indulgence where we can do/buy/eat/drink whatever we want in the name of our birthday. But the actual day is really pretty meh. I’m with you on that.
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I like the “birthday season” idea. My wife’s birthday is in early September and we have one of our son’s sandwiched in between.
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Feliz Birthday, Jeff! I’m a late summer birthday, as well. We Leo’s are a pretty awesome bunch. My birthday is just “a day”, too . . . but it’s the day we eat Cheese Fondue and drink Bubbles, and no one is allowed to complain about it, so I call it a win! We’re year-round Rosé drinkers here, too . . . Salud!
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Great comment—Happy Birthday to you as well, fellow Leo.
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first, Happy Birthday second dry rose’ , the winery I work at makes a dry Melbec rose’ cold soaked and fully pressed . really quite nice, sorry only availale in British Columbia. enjoyed the post.
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That does sound good!
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happy birthday. it’s just a day, it’s true, but it’s a day for celebrating you. and enjoying a bit of wine.
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I agree, we do celebrate, but, well….
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🙂
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When every day in your life is so good that it feels like your birthday, there’s no need to amp things up on your birthday. Here’s to another year of 365 birthday-worthy days.
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Great approach!
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Happy belated birthday wishes to you!!!! (additional ! for emphasis 😉 With our without seamless tie-in, enjoyed your first WBW entry. Completely agree with this point – [rose] “it should be a part of any wine drinker’s year-round repertoire.” Cheers!
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Thanks for stopping by and for the comment! Cheers!
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Well, happy belated birthday nonetheless, Jeff! 🙂
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Thanks Stefano!
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