Ten of the best California rosé wines
As balmy weather and lengthening days signal the arrival of spring, it’s time to think about travel, adventure—and rosé. William Kelley picks his top 10 California rosé wines...
Always fun and sometimes frivolous, rosé is seldom taken too seriously, but the genre is one of California wine’s most dynamic, attracting increasing numbers of talented winemakers.
Whereas consumers have certain expectations of a California Cabernet, rosé offers more freedom to experiment with out-of-the-way vineyards, eclectic grape varieties and novel winemaking techniques: the necessity is not so much to ‘impress’ as to refresh. That makes rosé appealing to up-and-coming young winemakers and well-established stalwarts alike.
Rosé has also attracted the attention of California’s new generation of sparkling wine pioneers. Inspired by the grower champagne movement and emulating its emphasis on single-vineyard, terroir-driven bottlings made on an artisanal scale, the early results already presage an exciting renaissance in North American sparkling wine.
The result is a burgeoning range of rosés that are versatile at the table, full of character and deliciously quaffable. Their usually modest pricing belies their quality. And take note: if the best metric of a winemaker’s talent is found in their humblest wine, some of these less heard-of producers seem destined for future stardom.
California rosé: 10 top wines
Ultramarine, Sparkling Rosé of Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2011
94
Michael Cruse, the leader of California's sparkling wine revolution, produces this rosé from the Charles Heitz vineyard, and the site's signature saline minerality is front and centre here. Notes of red berry fruit, baked rhubarb and smoky, caremelized blood orange are equally evocative of the wine's Sonoma Coast origins. A refined mousse frames a wine with Californian volume but taught acidity.
2011
UltramarineSonoma County
Sandhi, Sparkling Pinot Noir Rosé, Santa Barbara County, Sta Rita Hills, California, USA, 2012
93
The debut sparkling wine from sommelier-turned-winemaker Rajat Parr, Sandhi's 2012 rosé reveals beautiful notes of strawberry, peach and red apple. A refined, bouyant mousse and lovely cut and minerality make this incisive and refreshing on the palate. A bit of bottle age will only see it become more expressive as it unwinds and expatiates.
2012
SandhiSanta Barbara County
County Line Vineyards, Rosé, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2015
91
<p>County Line is the second label for Eric Sussman, the talented proprietor-winemaker of Radio-Coteau, established specifically to make this rosé. From Champagne clones of Pinot Noir, planted in Anderson Valley and intended for sparkling wine, a bouquet of wild berries, red apple and citrus introduce a refreshing wine of impressive textural refinement.</p>
2015
County Line VineyardsSonoma County
Arnot-Roberts, Rosé, California, USA, 2015
91
By now Arnot-Roberts need no introduction, and their Touriga Nacional rosé is already fought-over. Wild strawberry, citrus and spice meld in wine amply endowed with fruit, acidity and chalky minerality. Modest alcohol makes this safe to gulp with abandon.
2015
Arnot-Roberts
Belharra, Rosé of Syrah, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2015
91
<p>Anne Fogarty and Camille Gaio craft both a red and a rosé from the Las Madres vineyard in cool Carneros, which makes for two fascinatingly different interpretations of the same site. Spring flowers, watermelon and white cherry lead into a glossy wine underpinned by real minerality and cut. While the cépage is different, the marriage of texture and tension recall a good Bandol.</p>
2015
BelharraSonoma County
Kutch, Pinot Noir Rosé, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2015
91
This delicate pink wine, Jamie Kutch's most gulpable bottling, nods to Sancerre with its expressive nose of tart raspberry, orange rind and spring flowers. Juicy, refreshing and elegantly mineral: pure pleasure on the palate.
2015
KutchSonoma County
Cenyth, Rosé, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2015
90
Hélène Seillan, the daughter of Verité's Bordeaux-trained winemaker Pierre Seillan, works alongside her father; but she also has a new label of her own: Cenyth. This crisp and refreshing rosé, made from Cabernet Franc, nods to Bourgueil with its notes of rose hip, white cherries and chalky soil. A delicious bottling from a name to watch.
2015
CenythSonoma County
Heitz Cellar, Grignolino Rosé, California, USA, 2015
89
<p>The unusual Grignolino grape was planted on the first parcel of vines Joe Heitz planted when he established the eponymous winery, so the variety enjoys a special place in the Heitz family's hearts—and Napa Valley history. A seductive nose of sweet red cherry and wild berries is followed by a wine built around great acidity, with just the subtlest hint of savoury phenolics on the back end that cry out for al fresco dining.</p>
2015
Heitz Cellar
Matthiasson, Rosé, California, USA, 2015
89
<p>Aromas of ripe Meyer lemon, fresh herbs and hints of the marine preface a supple, juicy and refreshing wine; a calling-card wine from Steve Matthiasson, one of Napa's leading organic viticulture gurus, and his wife Jill Klein. An unusual blend of 36% Syrah, 31% Grenache, 29% Mourvedre, and 4% Counoise, with malolactic fermentation blocked to preserve acidity.</p>
2015
Matthiasson
Bedrock Wine Co, Ode to Lulu Old Vine Rosé, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, California, USA, 2015
90
Named in honour of Lulu Peynaud, the legendary chatelaine of Bandol's Domaine Tempier, this Mourvèdre rosé bursts with watermelon, spring flowers, citrus and spice preface a fresh, supple wine with a savoury finish crying out for a Provençal feats. Morgan Twain-Peterson is one of the great exponents of California's old vine heritage, and this bottling hails from a vineyard planted in the 1940s!
2015
Bedrock Wine CoSonoma County
