Oh, the holidays. Christmas Eve is tomorrow and I have in fact started in on a bottle of rosé. Sitting next to the Christmas tree with the fire ablaze, Seahawks game on mute with Micheal Bublé playing in the background while I am drinking pink. It’s dumping rain outside, welcome to winter in Washington. It may seem confusing, as the normal narrative is to drink rosé in the summer. But the heart wants what it wants! If you want rosé the night before Christmas eve, why not! I am here to give you my two rosé’s to drink THIS WINTER. A bold and chatty red wine will be your main course for the season, but at 4:00pm on Christmas Eve Eve, a rosé sounds quite nice! Wherever you are, put on your snow boots or flip flops depending on the current weather and grab a bottle of rosé for your next holiday party.

Go-To Winter Rosé:

Côte des Roses 2017, Gérard Bertrand

The best of the best! This is my favorite rosé. With a bottle with breathtaking detail, affordable price tag and enjoyable dry taste, it’s a must have. It’s fresh, light and upholds flavors of peach, lemon and honeysuckle. Some may call it collecting trash, or “hoarding” but I do save (and clean) the bottles. The beautiful rose detail on the bottom of the bottle does not belong in the trash can. I’ve wanted to make candles out of it for years, but yet no candle in sight and ten empty bottles in my closet. A thing of beauty, a drink of grace, a delicious drink for the holiday season. Pair it with peppermint bark or a red velvet cupcake and you’ve got a great pre-holiday party snack.

How’s it made? Well I thought you would never ask!

Cote des Roses is made in the Languedoc region of France. Famously known for the Pont de Gard. A famous roman aqueduct used to bring water to the French city of Nîmes. Still standing to this day and now a famous tourist destination. The famous grape varietals found in this region include but are not limited to; Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. This work of art from the winery and estate of Gérard Bertrand, as per the website, is grown in a semi-Mediterranean climate. The red varieties used in this rosé are Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah. Rosé is typically made from red grape varieties that have minimal skin contact before fermentation. Stay tuned for a post entirely on rosé!

Where to buy: Costco!! Buy in bulk and save. World Market. Easy to buy around the country and also available online.

The Vincent Rosé 2017, Board Track Racer, Mark Ryan Winery

Just perfect. A rosé Evel Knievel might even enjoy. My favorite tasting room in the Pacific Northwest. This will be a more difficult wine to acquire if you are not on the West Coast of the United States. But keep yours eyes out. Mark Ryan is changing the Washington Wine World and creating a comfortable and enjoyable wine drinking experience that you could see the Wild Hogs enjoying quite nicely. This Mark Ryan rosé, The Vincent, is a crisp, balanced and tart wine. While perfect for the summer time, it’s a bright and colorful rosé for the winter as well. I would love the take the label and make a t-shirt out of it. It’s a rad rosé and would be great with a garlic and lemon based pasta dish or cheese board. For the holiday season, pair this wine with a holiday meringue or cranberry sauce dish to bring out the berry flavors.

How’s it made?

This Mark Ryan wine is of the Columbia Valley Appellation. In the Southeast of the state of Washington, this is an ever growing wine region. The Columbia Valley grape varietals grown at the highest planting percentage are Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling and Chardonnay. Being the largest winemaking region of Washington, it’s fairly popular to have wineries within the valley and also tasting rooms within the Greater Seattle Area. The Mark Ryan tasting room that I could rave about until the end of time, is in Woodinville, WA. A thirty minute drive outside of downtown Seattle.

The grape varietals used in The Vincent rosé are Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache. Again, all red grape varieties grown in the Columbia Valley. A delicious and festive drink for the holiday season (and every other season!).

Where to buy: While I just spent the last few paragraphs convincing you to buy this wine, it may not be available anymore. The best bet is to stop by the tasting room to inquire about a new vintage! Some online websites have this wine available as well. Worth the wait and a great introduction to Washington pink wines.

Happy holidays to all! Leave Santa a glass of YOUR favorite rosé to switch it up for him this year. What’s your favorite rosé?

“SERVIR TRÈS FRAIS” — Serve very fresh (over ice, chilled, soon after opening)

Drink of the summer. Tastes like you are drinking a lovely sunrise on a warm summer morning. Deeply & passionately in love with you, Lillet. La Vie en Rose is playing through my computer speakers as I am accompanied by rosé Lillet over ice with a lemon twist. This French apéritif from Bordeaux started in 1872. The Lillet website, describes it’s creation beginning with the descendants of Jean Lillet, who ultimately founded Maison Lillet in a small village of Podensac.

Fun facts:

• Apéritif: An apéritif is an alcoholic drink typically consumed before a meal to stimulate the appetite
• Digestif: Served after a meal to aid digestion
• Bordeaux: Southwestern region of France, known for winemaking and art musuems
  • Grape varietals from Bordeaux include Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec & more

Lillet

How is it made?

Lillet is a blend of Bordeaux wine varietals and macerated fruits. Fruit maceration is done slow and cold and are macerated into alcohol. After weeks of maceration, fruit pressing extracts the aromatic richness.

Next step in the process, vinage. Vinage is the fortification or mixing of the fruit maceration and wine. Lillet Rouge and Lillet Blanc are aged for months in oak barrels and Lillet Rosé is bottled directly.

“Sweet oranges from Turkey, Spain or Morocco, bitter oranges from Haiti, quinine from South America… Every year, we carefully select the best fruits, fruit peels and barks for their freshness and aromatic richness” – Lillet website

How to enjoy it!

Lillet is a gorgeous, fresh and crisp liqueur. It has the lightness and depth of a wine, but a sweetness and punch of a liqueur. The Lillet Rosé has a strong nose of peaches, stone fruit and honey suckle. The flavors of the Lillet Rosé over ice with lemon peel has a strong beginning of melon, cantaloupe and honeydew, and finishes with crisp green pear and tangerine.

• Drink this over ice! I know that sounds funky because it is wine, but this is a drink it’s own cocktail. The flavors are enhanced by the colder temperature
• A citrus peel! At Figaro Bistrot in Los Feliz, Lillet Blanc was also served with a lemon peel. Don’t forget to rub the peel along the rim for the finishing touch
• As an apèrtif, you can drink this before your meal. As the perfect summer drink, enjoy with a classic french meal. Coq au Vin (marinated chicken in red wine), a salmon crêpe, brie & prosciutto baguette sandwich or as I chose to enjoy it, with escargot. Heart eyes.

Lillet is a effortlessly smooth drink bursting with flavors and history. Found in the liqueur section of the liquor store. I found it at Cap n’ Cork on Hillhurst and Prospect, never forgetting those cross streets as my mother and I argued for ten blocks about what the street corner was. Hillhurst and Prospect, I will never forget the location of a liquor store in Los Angeles, how useful?

Have you tried Lillet? It’s a mid-summer nights dream, you’ll thank me later.

I will be the first to say I am a huge Game Of Thrones fan and I most definitely bought my latest bottle solely because I am having GOT withdrawals and the label really felt like an anecdote. Not only does this label appear in full support of the Starks (yes and yes) but it also is a Red Blend from South Africa. Made from 71% Syrah, 28% Mourvèdre and 1% Viognier. Fascinating because Viognier is a white grape, so it appears to be a two red and little hint of white variety, cool right? The history behind the name and label is the myth of wolves in the area. I’ll buy into any good myth

“A Wine Drawn from Legend

When the farm was founded, the Franschhoek valley was far wilder than it is today – as the wolf trap we once discovered goes to show. Today, the mountains are still alive with indigenous animals, including the majestic leopard. No evidence of wolves has ever been found though, so we created this wine to remind us of the mysteries and legends of days gone by. The Wolftrap is a rich, deep red blend that includes Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Viognier.”

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From the Boekenhoutskloof website

• Where to buy? I mean I have no idea where to find it in a store near you (absolutely not helpful at all, I do apologize), but I found this scrumptious little thing at 365 Whole Foods for $11.99.
• Where is it from? South Africa. Way way up on my list of wine country to visit. This particular wine is from Boekenhoutskloof Franschhoek, “Cape of Good Hope”, South Africa.

The Boekenhoutskloof estate was established in 1776 and has a wide variety of grape varieties planted. From their website, here is a map of their estate and their varietal planting grid.

• What to pair it with? I enjoyed this deep, plum and blackberry red blend with a cucumber greek salad and Spaghetti alla Carbonara from il Capriccio on Vermont in Los Feliz (AND they deliver). This red wine is hearty and has a similar sweetness as a ripe blackberry or sweet deep purple cherry. Other pairings I could imagine with this wine:
  • Lasagna, Mousakka (a greek beef dish similar to lasagna), a pork or turkey based dish, and honestly I bet this wine would taste damn good with a hot dog or if you are fancier than that, a bratwurst or sausage.
  • A chocolate mousse or berry pie. Marion berry is my hands down favorite pie and would pair nicely with this wine

Inexpensive, intriguing and wonderfully complex with a twist off cap is a perfect wine for exploration into South Africa and to give you a bit of nostalgia that GOT’s last season still isn’t until next year. Just buy and buy this wine until we can see Jon Snow again, sounds good to me? Enjoy!

Have you had any of the Boekenhoutskloof wines? What are your favorite South African wines?

Step 1. Get a bottle of wine

Step 2. Pick a movie to watch

Step 3. Repeat next week

I’m starting a new series about pairing a bottle of wine with a movie I am watching. Movie and wine pairing? I’m into it. Every movie has emotions, themes and an aging process. Kind of like a bottle of wine, right? I might be stretching it but I think wine and movies might be my two favorite simple pleasures in life.

Tada! Welcome to my first wine & watch. The series premiere! Film = 2014 Female comedic classic: The Other Woman. Hilarious, heartbreaking, and relatable. I will forever be a DIE HARD Cameron Diaz fan. Was anybody else hooked after that opening scene in Charlie’s Angels?

Iconic.

The Other Woman is hands down in my top 10 favorite movies. It is scandalous, adorable and based in New York City and Connecticut, you won’t be complaining.

Amazing!! Watch and then watch it again, and don’t forget to “cry on the inside like a winner.”

Now now now, for wine. You guessed it, or maybe you didn’t haha. Rosé. Chilean rosé to be exact! My current wine of the week is Loma Negra, 2017 Rosé. Made with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. At $4.99 a pop from Trader Joes, it’s affordable and delicious. Very dry, light on the nose and has peach, apple and lemon flavors. Make sure you put it in the fridge about an hour before you drink it, most Trader Joe’s have no wine refrigeration.

Money well spent, an evening well spent and my ideal Thursday night. Enjoy! Stay tuned for next week’s Wine & Watch!!