“One of the most important long-term trends in California wine over the last decade has been the dramatic rise in both the quality and volume of rosé wines. The fastest growth in the category “seems to be in the last three years, with almost every winery that has a tasting room making at least a small amount of rosé, and many making a lot of it. Rosé has been around for decades, but “great rosé is a recent phenomenon. Today, it has reached a pinnacle of quality that is hard to describe. I first discovered that rosé was better than its reputation in the early 1970s when Sutter “Home White Zinfandel was first produced as a dry wine. Spring after spring, as soon as it was released, I’d buy a case and nurse it through the summer. It was a delightful quaff, as well as a “similar wine from Caymus, (called oeil de perdrix, or “eye of the partridge”), and then later I was smitten with one from Sebastiani (which used the term “eye of the swan.”) Sutter Home still “makes white zinfandel, though since about 1975 it has been sweeter than it started out to be…”

“Wine of the Week: 2016 Esprit Gassier, Cotes de Provence: This French rosé is one of the best on the market for its astoundingly prototypical fruit, earthy aroma and nearly bone dry finish…”

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