Delicious Rose Wine: What to Consider

There’s hundreds, nay thousands of glorious options in the rose wine category. How can one ever decide which delicious rose wine to choose? What are the most important factors that determine the best rose wines? Bevinars’ wine experts here to help you encounter delicious rose wines at the price you want to pay.

There are dozens of considerations in deciding to purchase any wine, but for rosé wines we have narrowed it down to seven elements you should evaluate, whether in the supermarket aisle, perusing the shelves on your favorite wine store, or making an online wine purchase.

Buying Rosé Based on Age

If you want to find a rosé that will please everyone without spending too much money, we advise you to opt for a young rosé. This might seem surprising if you’re used to buying red wine, where it’s the aged wines that often promise good bottles. However, rosé wines work differently, and today, most are best consumed young. The reason is simple: rosé is meant to be light, floral, and fruity, bursting with flavorful quality that comes from the winemaking process. This fades over time, giving way to more depth and character.

Buying Rosé Based on Alcohol Level

It’s difficult to estimate the alcohol content of a rosé wine just by looking at its color and appearance through the bottle. The only way to know the alcohol content of a rosé is to check the label, where it will always be listed. You may choose a rosé that’s more or less alcoholic for different occasions. Don’t exceed 12% alcohol for an aperitif, while for pairing with a meal, a rosé with 14% alcohol will work perfectly.

Buying Rosé Wine Based on Price and Packaging

When people think of red and white wines, as a general rule, the more expensive the wine, the better. This is less true for rosé. You can certainly treat yourself to a good bottle without spending a fortune.

Indeed, there is a wide variety of very good rosé wines for less than $20, something to enjoy moderately! Rose wine producers also often use a variety of bottle style, usually with clear glass. For your next party, choose a bottle that will cause intrigue among your guests!

Buying Rosé Based on Sweetness

People may have preconceived notions about rosé wine. Among the rose wine myths is that darker rosé wines are sweeter. Many people who don’t like sweet wines will thus turn to a lighter rosé, thinking it will be drier and lighter. However, please remember, a dark rosé is not necessarily sweeter than a light rosé.

The best way to know if a rosé is sweet or not is to check the label. A wine is considered dry when its sugar level is less than 4 grams per liter. The description will often describe whether the wine is dry or semi-dry. In addition, the higher the alcohol content, the less residual sugar in the wine. Fruity rose wines can exist at both ends of the spectrum.

Buying Delicious Rosé Wine Based on Appellation

To make the right choice when selecting a rosé, you can easily rely on AOP/AOC (Protected Designation of Origin/Controlled) and IGP (Protected Geographical Indication). As a guarantee of quality, these labels are granted to wines made according to very strict specifications. Therefore, they assure you of a quality rosé. The appellation helps define the wine’s terroir. The French wine region of Provence, for example, is renowned for its rosé wines, which express the region’s limestone and clay soils. With this terroir, you will find crisp acidity and minerality in wines like Château de Berne, Château Sainte Marguerite, and Domaine des Masques.

Buying Rosé Based on Grape Variety

Rosé wine production is a demanding technique, but the final result will depend fundamentally on the grape variety. Here is the place to embrace rose’s diversity. As rose expert Elizabeth Gabay MW has said, “We love rosé. We love its diversity, complexity, and the infinite combinations of terroir, grape variety, vintage variation, and winemaking that we find around the world. Many people think we are crazy. They see rosé as a pale pink, lightly aromatic swimming pool tipple that somehow tastes better if you’re wearing a pink bikini.” That is not what this fine rose wine is about.

Languedoc-Roussillon, for example, features rose wines from Syrah, Cinsault, and Grenache. In Argentina, you will find rose made from the Criolla grape, which may offer well-defined tannins, especially with substantial skin contact during winemaking. In Rioja, Spain, you will even find Gran Reserva rose wines that combine grape varietal character with ageing. Tempranillo and Garnacha grapes will  produce a deep salmon color. While barrel ageing lends a refined taste profile, rich with aromas of ripe strawberries, toasted almonds, and subtle allspice.

Buying Rosé Based on Color

In general, a pale pink or gray rosé wine can guarantee you a lightly tannic rosé, with notes of exotic fruits and citrus. A dark rosé wine, on the other hand, will ensure a more powerful and strong wine on the palate, with aromas of red fruits, strawberries, and blackcurrants.

bottle of La Vielle Ferme rose wine

25 Delicious Rosé Wines Ranked by Price (Most Expensive to Least Expensive)

Now that you know the criterion to use in selecting rose wines, here’s the Bevinars list the top 25 for delicious rose wine, organized in descending order by price. The most expensive is around $125 and the least expensive less than $10 per bottle.

  1. Chateau d’Esclans Garrus Provence Rose
  2. Domaines Ott Côtes de Provence Rosé Château de Selle
  3. Miraval Cotes de Provence Rose
  4. Domaine Salmon Sancerre Pinot Noir Rose
  5. Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso Rose, Italy
  6. Chateau La Vivonne Bandol Rose
  7. Flowers Sonoma Coast Rose of Pinot Noir
  8. Chêne Bleu Vaucluse Rosé, France
  9. Ridge Lytton Estate Rose, California
  10. Erath Pinot Noir Oregon Rosé
  11. McBride Sisters Black Girl Magic Rose
  12. Daou Paso Robles Rosé
  13. Carmen Gran Reserva Rose, Chile
  14. Chateau Ste. Michelle Rose Columbia Valley, Washington
  15. Stolpman “Love You Bunches” Central Coast Rosé of Grenache, California
  16. Bougrier Pure Loire Rose d’Anjou
  17. Bodegas Muga Rioja Rosado
  18. Samuel Robert Rose Willamette Vintner’s Reserve
  19. Kim Crawford Rose, New Zealand
  20. Ministry of Clouds Rosé Mclaren Vale, Australia
  21. Chapoutier Belleruche Rose
  22. Domaine la Colombe Coteaux Varois en Provence Rosé
  23. Portalupi Rosato di Barbera, Italy
  24. La Vieille Ferme Rose, France
  25. Charles & Charles Columbia Valley Rosé   

Use this list of the top 25 delicious rose wines as a guide. Bevinars wine experts Mark Oldman and Charlie Leary have chosen excellent rose wine producers from around the globe that represent a variety of rose wine styles, grape varieties, and terroirs.

Charlie Leary

A member of the Circle of Wine Writers, Charlie Leary has directed restaurant wine programs in the US, Canada, Costa Rica, and France. In the mid 1990s, while earning a PhD from Cornell University, he made artisanal cheeses and counted among the first North Americans inducted into the Guilde International des Fromagers; he later planned, planted, and managed an IGP vineyard in Andalusia.

His book-length guide to worldwide wine education programs (Leary’s Global Wineology) was first published in 2022, in part based on his experience earning numerous wine certifications. His feature articles have appeared in Decanter magazine, Jane Anson’s Inside Bordeaux, JancisRobinson.com, Sommelier Business, Hudin.com, and Tim Atkin MW’s website, among others. He recently consulted for the wine metaverse startup Second Winery and wrote a detailed report on the history of wine sensory analysis for the Wine Scholar Guild. Charlie now lives in Panama, where he offers wine classes, and is writing a book on the philosopher Montesquieu as an eighteenth century winegrower. IG: @bacopty