More Tickled Pink: Sparkling and California

One of my favorite ways to enjoy Rose is in a sparkling wine. There were a few that I tasted at the Rose Tasting Event:

Riondo Pink: The wine consultant that was pouring described this wine (pictured above) as being made from cabernet sauvignon grapes. I Googled this wine to get more information, but was unable to find a review on it. I don't think I've ever seen a Cabernet rose, so it's quite unique from my point of view. It was delicious, too. Sweeter than most, but still delicate, I wrote "like candy" in my notes. I've always like Riondo's Prosecco, it's a great value and a highly rated wine by Robert Parker. Brides take note: this is a perfect wedding wine.

Novacento Rosado: This sparkler comes from Argentina. It was perhaps a bit too sweet. It reminded me of Angel food cake and a friend at the tasting described it as tasting a little artificial, like low fat food. Not a highlight.

Baumard Cremant de la Loire Rose Sparkling: Since Champagne can only legally be used on wines from the region of Champagne, France, other regions that use the same method of making sparkling wine are called Cremant. This wine is from the Loire Valley and is therefore, Cremant de la Loire. I was not as impressed with this wine, in fact it had distinct green pepper taste to me.

Now for some of the American wines:

Alexander Valley Sangiovese Rose: (Third from the left in the photo above.)  Made from the same grape as Chianti, many California wineries are having success with Sangiovese rose. A pretty fuschia color, this reminds one of raspberries, has some nice spice notes and a dry finish.

Matchbook Tempranillo Rose: (Second from the right, above) I've had this wine served at a very elegant dinner yet it's an affordable backyard sipper. It's made with the same grape as Spain's Rioja so look for strawberry, raspberry and a touch of wood. Yet it's not overly dry so it makes a great summer sipper.

Cline Mourvedre Rose: (Second from the left, above, sorry but the label isn't showing) Mourvedre is a grape that's popular in France and Spain (called Monastrell). Cline makes very good Ancient Vines Mourvedre and Small Berry Mouvedre and doesn't disappoint with this rose. Expect lots of earthy notes and some nice spiciness on this one.