Rosè Wine Tasting

Several weeks ago Sarah and I went to a Rosè wine tasting in St Paul. A local wine shop puts it on. There were many many distributors with many many different rosès to try, over a hundred in all. We had to pace ourselves!

It was pretty chilly that day. This is something I’m still getting used, the wide fluctuations in temperature that are common in the Midwest. We’ll have several days with highs in the 80’s, then it drops back into the 50’s and 60’s. Next week will see some highs in the 90’s. It’s confusing!

I drove over to Sarah and Erik’s a little early; we thought we might go to an art show first, but Mr Leo had other ideas. We had to wait for him to wake up from a long nap so he could eat before we left. 

Once that was accomplished off we went. The event was held in the parking lot of  St Paul’s College, under a big tent. We were given a book with the names of the wines. Each wine was assigned a number, and the distributers and their wines were in order by number around the tent so it was easy to find the wines we wanted to try. 

Rosè is not a varietal as I learned, so you can have lots of different kinds of Rosè; Malbec, Zinfandel, Pinot, you get the picture. It is considered a TYPE of wine, like white, or red. It incorporates a little of the grape skins, but not enough to be called a red wine. We tried wines from different regions, different countries. We both had our own rating systems. Sarah’s was more standardized with multiple stars for wines she really liked. Mine was more eclectic with comments like “smoky!” Or “mmmmmm”. 

After trying about 10 wines we took a break, getting some sausage, cheese and crackers to eat. We sat at a table outside the tent and ate our snacks. Then we tried a few more wines. It was more crowded as it got later, and after a while they all started to taste the same, so it was time to go.

We drove over to the wine shop and bought some of our favorites, using the $10 off coupons we received at the tasting. Then we drove back to Sarah and Erik’s house, to play with Leo a bit and eat homemade pizza. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday, and now I have a bunch of Rosè wines to drink this summer too.