Portland: The city of Rosés!

I guess it's the time of year where we're suppose to drink Rosés. E&R put on this interesting tasting, with a huge array of wines from all over the world, including regions you don't often see. I have a mixed relationship with Rosé... while I really enjoy some, they can have a metallic notion that I often don't care for. I rarely found that today, though, and for the most part enjoyed the wines on the whole better than expected. There were definitely some particular surprising standouts. A very worthwhile evening.

The tasting was broken up into three tables, Tables 1 and 2 each represent the portfolio of a local distributor. The "Counter" table was the rest of the wines, not with any particular representation there.

• 2012 Espelt Empordà Corali 89 Points

  Spain, Catalunya, Empordà

  Grown from 90 year old vines in the middle of a national park. This was the only vineyard that was grandfathered in and allowed to stay. Nice, soft, fairly creamy aromas and expressing some light minerals. Very nice texture, incredibly soft and creamy with good tart minerals and a nice sweet strawberry flavor. Nice palate. Really great acidity and intensity on the finish, with great length and lushness throughout. Some metallic notion which knocks it down a slight peg, but overall a great start to the tasting. Amazing for $12 at full retail.

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• 2012 Domaine Maestracci Vin de Corse Calvi E Prove Rosé 85 Points

  France, Corsica, Vin de Corse Calvi

  Soft, lean aromas with light berry. Lean, chunky texture and pretty generic. Funky, metallic flavors on the finish with bitter cranberry seed, some bubble gum, and decent acid.

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• 2012 Domaine Comte Abbatucci Faustine Rosé Vieilles Vignes 90 Points

  France, Corsica, Vin de France

  Light aroma, but lean offering nice subtlety if paid attention to. Soft yet chunky texture, showing nice fruit flavors on the palate. Quite vibrant, with great intensity. Very tart on the finish, offering sweet minerals and leanness initially but after one swallows it begins transitioning over 20 seconds to some fantastic, sweet strawberry fruit. Quite classy stuff for a Rose.

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• 2012 Château de Lascaux Coteaux du Languedoc Rosé 89 Points

  France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Coteaux du Languedoc

  Soft, nice and fruity aromas. Moderate medium bodied texture, creamy, with an impressive slightly under ripe strawberry coupled with nice acid. Good flavors on the finish, but a slight metallic notion runs through it. Good coating nature and acidity.

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• 2012 Domaine du Gros 'Noré Bandol Rosé 88 Points

  France, Provence, Bandol

  Very soft and quiet aromas. Nice body, really nice strawberry flavors on a creamy, soft luscious texture. Intense minerals on the finish, but coupled with some metals. This tastes like I just drank liquid leaded glass... quite intense tartness as it lingers.

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• 2012 Domaine les Pallières Au petit bonheur 90 Points

  France, Rhône, Vin de France

  Very very mild aromas... just smells a bit like salty water. Soft, and nice creamy palate. Elegant and interesting, actually. Really nice, focused flavors of lovely berry. Wow, the finish is exactly like Cheerios soaked in milk. I'm not kidding. This is totally wild. Really nice acid lingers for 20 seconds later, but so does the Cheerios. What a wild turn of events this wine is, from the quiet nose, fruity creamy palate, and cereal finish. At each state I was totally not expecting the next. Very interesting, fun stuff.

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• 2011 Château de Trinquevedel Tavel Les Vignes d’Eugène 89 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Tavel

  Much darker, richer red color here. This smells like an alpine flower field; bear grass in full bloom!Absolutely beautiful image it paints in my mind. Very fruit forward on the palate, practically drinking like a light red Pinot Noir. Mild barrel funkiness, nice intensity, good acid, and lingering cherry flavors in the background of the palate. The finish offers similar cherries, but very dark in complexion for a Rose. Nice acid lingers. Pretty big and bold, this wine. Feels like it's cheating in this lineup, because it practically drinks like a red wine, so of course it stands out.

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• 2012 Domaine Arretxea Irouléguy Rosé 88 Points

  France, Southwest France, Pays Basque, Irouléguy

  Looks completely florescent. Literally like the ink from a pink highlighter. The aromas are light, and slightly metallic. Really really sweet on the palate, with lots of candy flavor, like a strawberry flavored Starburst. Mild tartness. Really intense finish, with great acid, lots of puckering acid, and wild transitions on the finish.

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• 2012 Maxime Magnon Corbières Métisse 89 Points

  France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Corbières

  Very very dark, intense color for a Rose. Wild, feral aromas. Herbs; very thick smelling. Creamy and sweet palate. More herbs, but also mixed with lots of strawberry. Like a strawberry flavored fun dip. Creamy and soft texture. Quite tart on the finish, with really nice lingering intensity and flavors of cotton candy.

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• 2010 Ameztoi Getariako Txakolina Rubentis 89 Points

  Spain, País Vasco, Getariako Txakolina

  Very light color; hardly any tint at all. Soft aromas of mellow bubble gum. Great intensity on palate entry; really attacks the palate. Nice vibrancy. Feels alive, with nice tartness of acidity. Yummy berry flavors. Soft finish, with good acidity. Nice intensity and tartness lingers, along with a mild sweetness. Love how this lingers. Really good.

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• 2012 Bodegas Muga Rioja Rosado 86 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Very light, watery color. Light and lean aromas with just some mild berry notes. Nice palate entry, which is soft in texture, but the flavors are not very distinguished. Not too interesting on the finish either, but there's some nice lingering acidity after 10 seconds.

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• 2012 Andre Dezat & Fils Sancerre Rosé 84 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre

  Funky and tart aromas that follow onto the really funky palate. Kind of gnarly. Strange flavors, almost tasting of brett or something. The finish is nice though, with good vibrancy and acidity. Nice bright flavors linger; quite lovely here. Too bad the rest of it is displeasing.

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• 2012 Bow and Arrow Gamay Noir Rosé Johan Vineyard 84 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  A little funky aromas, and pretty lean. Soft palate entry, but really straight forward, not really offering any depth of flavors, on a pretty lean palate. Very mild. The finish is soft, but also a little flabby. Nothing really holding it together. Needs more acid. Needs more fruit. Pretty straight forward, with just slight flavors lingering.

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• 2012 Teutonic Wine Company Pinot Noir Rosé Laurel Vineyard 85 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Not too distinguished in this lineup today, and seemed to fall to the background and lacked acidity and intensity for me. The aromas here are soft, and slightly candy. Pretty mild. Creamy mellow palate texture, with some candied flavors but also slightly funky. Pretty light overall. The finish is also a little funkily fruited, with only slight acid lingering.

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• 2012 Erwin Tinhof Blaufränkisch Bio 78 Points

  Austria, Burgenland

  Interesting, different nose. Soft, but an odd blend of berry and mild detergent flavors. Soft palate but it's a bit flabby offering no interesting flavors. Really funky finish, also flabby. This wine just feels really stuffy and boring. I don't like the way it feels or taste. The only wine of the night that I felt like I wanted to spit.

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• 2012 Colterenzio Schreckbichl Lagrein Rosé 84 Points

  Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Alto Adige, Alto Adige - Südtirol

  Dark color. Pretty intense and luscious aromas. Soft, with a sweet mix of strawberry and apple. Pretty soft on the palate, but again trending towards flabby. Desperately needs more acidity and intensity. Metallic and tart finish, with off balanced fruit. Lean tartness after 20 seconds.

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• 2011 Ferme de la Sansonnière (Mark Angeli) Rosé d'un Jour 91 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Vin de France

  Wow, what happened here?? This is different! Very refreshing change of pace. And holy pickles... this smells like fermenting pickles or something. Regular pickles, but also pickled cucumbers. VERY unique and interesting. Wow, what creamy texture. On the palate it's creamy pickles, sweet berries, and tons of funkiness, with flavors of odd herbs and carrot tops. This is so different. Funky and strange finish; bizaro world. Tastes like an herbal tincture. Very fun and unique. It's rare being this surprised by a wine these days, and thinking I've never tasted something like this before. Fun.

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• NV Tony Bornard Poulsard Vin de Table Français Tant-mieux 89 Points

  France, Vin de Table Français

  Wild, feral aromas. Smells poppy. Pretty funky, wild flavors on the palate. I really love the interesting blend of sweet fruit and odd "natural wine" funkiness. Intense funk on the finish as well. Fantastic, lush and tart finish, with an odd bitterness. Very unique and different. Brought a bottle home to drink this night.

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• 2012 Claude Lafond Reuilly La Grande Pièce 85 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Reuilly

  Interesting, rose of Pinot Gris. Mild and funky aromas, but it's pretty light. Slightly funky palate, with a chunky texture. A little sweet and odd, with a flabby feeling. Needs more acid here. The finish does dial up with some acid though, but it still needs more. Pretty straightforward.

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• 2012 Château de Brigue Côtes de Provence Rosé 83 Points

  France, Provence, Côtes de Provence

  Soft, slightly funky aromas. Chunky texture and really lacking anything interesting. Tart finish, but pretty boring and generic.

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• 2012 Château La Mascaronne Côtes de Provence Rosé 85 Points

  France, Provence, Côtes de Provence

  Very light aromas. Nice palate, with decent red berry flavors, but it's fairly flabby and lacking acidity. Good acid on the finish, with tartness, but also bitterness.

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• 2012 Château Valcombe Ventoux Rosé Epicure 82 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Ventoux

  Soft, slightly sweet smelling. Pretty soft palate, with a flabby texture. Flabby finish, with bitter puckering metallic flavors. Not pleasant.

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• 2012 Mas de Gourgonnier Les Baux-de-Provence Rosé 83 Points

  France, Provence, Les Baux-de-Provence

  Nice aromas, soft and lean, but good depth. The palate, on the other hand, is bitter and slightly astringent. Puckering acid on the finish, but it feels quite volatile. Odd texture left in my mouth too.

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• 2012 Le Clos du Caillou Côtes du Rhône Le Caillou Rosé 83 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône

  Nice floral aromas, garigue, herbal. An odd funk. Some sweetness on the palate, which is tart, mildly fruity, and pretty astringent. Same off balanced finish.

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• 2012 Château Virgile Costières-de-Nîmes Rosé 85 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Costières-de-Nîmes

  Very soft aromas. Tart, lean texture, with some sweet fruit on the palate. Decent acidity here, with a gritty and funky lingering on my palate.

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• 2012 Skouras Zoe Rosé 88 Points

  Greece, Peloponnisos, Peloponnese

  Crazy florescent magenta color. Like you poured the magenta ink from your printer and watered it back. Soft, pleasingly sweet aromas. Nice and soft texture, with sweet fruit and fairly balanced on the palate. Tart, with good puckering flavors at the end. Nice tartness. Really good, and a bit bitter.

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• 2012 Bonny Doon Vineyard Vin Gris de Cigare 86 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast

  Awesome seeing the ingredients on the label. This offered a lean aromatic profile. Pretty soft. The palate is nicely texture, pretty soft, with decent fruit. The finish is tart but gets a little off balanced and funky after some time. Kind of strange.

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