Our love of Loire Valley rosé and our relationship with the Boucard family of Domaine de la Chanteleuserie go back almost to our founding, but it wasn’t until more recently that these two loves found each other. For decades, the Boucards have sent us some of the Loire’s most joyous and over-delivering reds made from Cabernet Franc, but now the family also produces an elegant and charming rosé from the region’s great red grape. The first thing you’ll notice is how enchanting the wine’s floral aromas are. As you take a sip, though, the flowers fade and are replaced with elegant notes of strawberry, herbs, and a final, bracing wave of citrus zest. This rosé offers a beautiful accompaniment not only to the last of summer’s produce but also to the roasted brussels sprouts and spicy fried chicken I’ll be making for months to come.

If you are as eager as I am to enter the season of stews, roasts, and game, you cannot go wrong with Clos La Coutale’s earthy and spicy Cahors as your new go-to rouge. Originating halfway between Bordeaux and Montpellier, this blend of mostly Malbec and a splash of Merlot has both the class and rusticity to make a pot that’s been braising for hours on your stove feel at once comforting and refined. The notes of plum, brambly fruit, and leather sing alongside a cassoulet or duck confit. If nearby Bordeaux, where Coutale’s Philippe Bernède sources the grand cru barrels for this bottling, is the polished and urbane one in the family, Cahors is the sneakily sophisticated but humbler country cousin, loaded with personality you’ll enjoy getting to know.