November 2024 Rosé Club

Cold Weather Rosés

Drinking rosé wine in the winter can be a delightful experience! While rosé is often associated with warm summer days, its versatility makes it an excellent choice year-round. This time of year, we look for fuller-bodied rosés with deeper flavors. Rosé pairs surprisingly well with hearty winter dishes. Try it with roasted chicken, creamy pastas, or vegetable-based soups. It also complements charcuterie boards with cured meats and aged cheeses. We like to serve it slightly warmer than usual (but still chilled). Aim for about 50–55°F (10–13°C), which allows the flavors to shine without feeling out of season. 

This month we’re featuring two natural rosés from some of California’s natural wine pioneers who source grapes from several California AVAs and vineyards. Adam Sabelli-Frisch of sabelli-Frisch makes wine from low-impact vineyards, with a focus on rare, forgotten, under-appreciated, or historic grape varieties. In his own words: “I try to make them in an elegant Old World way here in the New World. I tend to go for more restrained oak usage for best expression, but not at all opposed to oak if the wine demands it (and some do). My wines are normally bone dry, fermented naturally, contain no added chemicals, low in sulfites. I try not to filter and I try not to fine. I also don’t rush them to market, I prefer to let them age in the winery for at least a year and half or more. I find it really helps them develop and refine, as well as prepare them for further aging.” You’ll notice his rosé is from 2021, but it still has all of the freshness and acidity a current vintage rosé would.

Vinca Minor was founded in 2013 by Jason Edward Charles, who has spent the greater portion of the past two decades making the world his classroom. His post-collegiate years found Charles taking photographs of everything from street life in Mexico City to the gorgeous Spanish countryside. After Europe, Charles moved to New York and waited tables in the Manhattan restaurant industry, where he was hostage to the good fortune of being surrounded by passionate wine experts. His interest ablaze, Charles landed a harvest internship and promptly moved to Northern California, where he worked the fields to learn every possible aspect of the winemaking craft. From there, Charles headed to France to further his studies at Château Haut Goujon in Lalande de Pomerol. After serving the soil, grape and sun in France, Charles returned to work at some of Napa’s most renowned wineries, formally establishing Vinca Minor in 2013. Charles's bold handling of the old-vine Mendocino Carignan grape helped make it an emerging star and placed him at the forefront of California's natural wine movement. Vinca Minor's philosophy is straightforward: they believe that exceptional wine originates from exceptional farming practices. This belief has led them to establish partnerships with historic vineyards and families across Northern California—families deeply rooted in the land, who have tended to these vines for generations.

Think Pink,

Carrie Upson