On three separate occasions while dining out this winter in New York City, I craved rosé. I wanted a single glass of wine to accompany a range of dishes, and rosé seemed like an uplifting antidote to frigid city living and short, dreary days. Unfortunately, to my surprise, not one of the lists I encountered offered a by-the-glass rosé pour. Was it “out of season”? Is there really no wintertime demand for rosé’s sunny disposition? What a missed opportunity to showcase and celebrate its versatility, charm, and dynamism year-round.
     If you’ve been similarly grief-stricken by this very unserious problem, I offer some good news. We are entering the month of March and for the next couple of seasons rosé will flow unfettered! In Berkeley, we just landed a re-stock of Clos Sainte Magdeline’s divinely tart and juicy Côtes-de-Provence rosé. Theirs is an organically grown blend of Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, and Syrah sourced from vineyards between Bandol and Cassis, from the seaside commune of La Ciotat. It’s the perfect bottling to quell a rosé dry spell, and to invite the Provençal gods, and all their blessings, back into your life.

Aromas of clementine and sweet summer melon abound in this plush, mouth-filling rosé from the granite hills above Ajaccio, Corsica’s capital city. Biodynamic farming guru Jean-Charles Abbatucci crafts it from the island’s indigenous Sciaccarellu grape, which he values for its capacity to produce lively wines with a real taste of the land. There is an alluring sun-kissed, windswept quality reminiscent of the Mediterranean coastline, as if Jean-Charles bottled up the essence of summertime in Corsica for us all to experience.

For nearly fifty years, Domaine de Fontsainte’s Gris de Gris and Domaine Tempier’s Bandol have represented a sort of yin and yang of our southern French rosés. If Bandol offers a darker, stonier, and more robust wine, Fontsainte’s Gris de Gris delivers a crisper and more featherweight expression of the South. Made mostly from Grenache Gris—a lighter-hued mutation of the more common Grenache Noir grape—this “vin gris” is so refreshing and versatile that it’s probably the most popular bottle among KLWM staff each summer—possibly even all year. Need a bottle that’s salad-friendly for your next picnic? Check. Or a glass to enjoy while you’re tending the grill? Look no further. Or—perhaps most importantly—need a wine for a mixed company with a variety of preferences for white, rosé, and even red? Fontsainte’s Gris de Gris has the frame and acidity for white-wine lovers while it delivers the succulence, spice, and faint red-berry notes for your friends who prefer reds. You’ll realize as soon as you taste it why this has been one of our essential cuvées for nearly five decades.