Oh, what a shame it would be!!! The Old World Roses knock the ubiquitous White Zinfandel out of the park producing mostly 100% dry (a.k.a. no remaining sugar) wines intertwined with minerality that are primed for new exciting food pairings - such as our first from the Old World region of Tavel, France in the Southern Rhone.
Tavel (Tah-VEL-la) is situated right across the Rhone river from the famed Chateauneauf du Pape region and consequently uses all of the grapes found in the "New House of the Pope" such as Grenache (Gren-AH-shh)*, Cinsault (SIN-So), Mourvedre (Moo-VED-Dra), Syrah (Sah-RAW), Clairette (CLAIR-Et), and Carignan (CARE-N-Yawn) among others in increasingly smaller quantities.
Just like its neighbor across the river, Tavel has famed historical roots. King Philip IV decreed upon being handed a glass of Tavel Rose, (which he reportedly "downed" quite quickly) that it was "the only good wine in the world" during one of his official tours of the kingdom in the 17th century.
Tavel only produces Rose when it comes to the export market (that's us America) and interestingly requires that all Roses have a minimum of 11% alcohol by volume, with most wines finishing at about 12-13.5%. Why do we care you ask? Because alcohol and sugar are on a vinified see-saw: Alcohol goes up? Sugar must go down. Sugar is high? Then alcohol is sitting in the sand box. Why? Its's SCIENCE! The alcohol in a wine is a by-product produced in the fermentation process where yeasts turn the naturally occurring sugar from the ripe grapes into alcohol. So what about our sweet "frienemy" White Zinfandel? It typically only has an APV (alcohol per volume) of 9.5-10.5%.
Now lets hear the real kicker - the price tag for a solid bottle of the "only good wine in the world" is a simple $10 including tax.
Domaine du Vieil's Aven is a classic "daily" example of the great rose wines that can come from producers who know what great pink wines can achieve. Overall, this wine drinks more like a white showcasing a mineral backbone of white stone, flagstone, & flint. Complementing notes of delicate rose petal & fresh uncut strawberries are also on the nose. The palate leans more into light raspberry notes with even a hint of fresh topsoil on a base of leveled acidity and a touch of tannin.All in all, this wine is delicate & pretty, but do not get that confused with sweet & girlie. This wine comes in 100% dry with an APV of 13.5%.
Avoid food pairings with high acidity as it can erase the delicate fruit notes of this wine. Instead, pair with more earthy flavors featuring squashes, mushrooms, and other simply prepared roasted veggies and poultry and pork.
Do drink this wine (and most roses) the night you open them. While they don't completely turn over night, those delicate fruit notes and structure of light tannins fade quickly - BUT its as its Valentine's day...hopefully there are 2 of you to finish a bottle. If not, well, you need those extra 2 glasses.
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* BTW if I haven't mentioned so far, I create my own pronunciation guides (clearly) - these just seem so much more intuitive then learning another whole alphabet.
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