Do you have rosé-colored glasses?
It appears Americans – across the board – do. Rosé is one of the hottest bottlings, experiencing unprecedented growth. According to Nielsen, rosé increased sales nationally by 40.5% in the last 4 weeks, and 34.7% over this time last year.
With this rosé mania in mind, enthusiasts won’t want to miss the hot new event called the Rosé Rendezvous. It’s on Aug. 1st at Simi Winery in Healdsburg.
Before we delve into a Q & A with chief organizer Bob Ecker, here are the details about the event.
The Rosé Rendezvous, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., will showcase more than 25 of the gold-medal winning wines from the Simi Winery’s Rosé Competition. On hand will be tasty treats prepared by Simi’s executive chef Kolin Vazzoler, and there will also be music by the eclectic band Full Chizel. Tickets are $35 per person and includes sips, bites and a souvenir rosé glass. To register, visit http://roserendezvous.bpt.me/. Simi Winery is located at 16275 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg.
Now that you’re primed for the event, here’s a behind-the-scenes peek at the tasting.
Q: Can you give us the background on the competition that rendered these gold medal winning wines?
A: The Rosé Competition was a professional, blind wine competition of American rosé wines held March 25th at Simi Winery in Healdsburg. Seven professional wine judges judged a total of 192 rose wines. This wine competition was open to North American wines; no Canadian or Mexican wines participated this year, but wines from 20 states entered the competition. Incidentally, the “Best in Show” wines in both the “Dry” (Martin Ray Winery) and “A Little Sweet” (Truet-Hurst) category were from Sonoma County.
Q: What don’t the uninitiated know about rosé? What would you tell them to set them straight?
A: Today, many excellent dry rosé are being produced here in California and beyond. Many are sensational, delicious wines in their own right, not the sweet and cloying rosés from yesteryear. Plus rosé wines go great with food (perfect for your Thanksgiving turkey) as well as hot summer days and nights.
Q: What style of rosé will the tasting showcase?
A: The Rosé Rendezvous will celebrate mostly great “Dry” Gold Medal winning rosé wines from the Rosé Competition. These fabulous wines are mostly from California but other states will also be represented.
