We may be on the backend of summer, but there is still
plenty of time to enjoy some delicious rosé, and as they have done in recent
years past, the French are producing some marvelous rosé with much of it
available for less than $12.
Many of my favorites have come from Provence and the
Southern Rhône area, but an exceptional good buy widely available now come from
the Bergerac area of Dordogne in Bordeaux. The 2011 Chateau Haut Sarthes can be
had for as little as $8 and it's a delicious find. I would call this wine
delicious if it were $15, but for $8? This is totally delightful.
This is a lovely find because apparently just 15 percent
of the rosé produced in the Bergerac is exported, and most of that goes to
Great Britain, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
And it goes well with a wide variety of food. The first
time I had it, my friend Curt brought it along to have with artisan pizza at
the Pizza Art Cafe in Ravenswood
Gardens here in Chicago. A crisp dry rosé with the sumptuous flavor of ripe
strawberries, it also went well with a pork tenderloin served with Brussels
sprouts and corn on the cob. It really is a juicy and versatile wine.
I rate this wine with a 9.5 using the scale on the left.
