A Rose' By Any Other Name...

Welcome to the first post of 'Botrus Banter'. At the Ozone; we do wine tasting, wine is art, art happens well with wine, we are making wine, and chatting about wine is fun. I hear so many of your great and quotable comments about the wines circulate through our flights that it seems just wrong not to share some of this content with our readers.

I mostly like to do local to Oregon or local to Willamette Valley wines on the tastings. I do carry imports just in case I have someone tasting that has tried *everything* in the Pacific Northwest. Some folks do try.  We live in hog heaven for great grapes, but alas, my first post will be an import with a barrage of wonderful vintages from Oregon to follow, I promise.

Domaine de Couron

Ardeche Rose' 2016

The forecast calls for 70-75 degrees on the coast in Newport, OR. for the Labor Day Weekend. What do you do? Reach for something chilled. Something not too sweet, not too dry. Something to go with fresh tuna off the boat, Dungeness crab or other delicious offerings from the fish counters. This warm bouquet, sweet nosed 100% Grenache is aimed directly at pleasing this palette.

Noticeably bright in the glass, this Grenache presents an off pink, blush color that is the same hue of satin pointe shoes. Like the ballerina that wears them, the wine is graceful, crisp, and strong. Salt and citrus command the first taste as strawberry and nectarine bring up the following palette. Very clean on the exit, it's just like the prima ballerina escaping the petite allegro via a 'jeter' off stage. 

Leggy enough to last but light enough to want the next glass, this dry Rose' is a pleaser to anyone looking for a white wine crossover, with a little more zest, to pair with most seafood or to recline as a stand alone sipper on the deck after a beautiful day at the beach.

'This family-run estate lies in the tiny hamlet of Saint Marcel d’Ardeche. Balance and great finesse are the hallmarks at Domain de Couron. Jean-Luc carries the mantle, a descendant of nine generations of wine growers. Using sustainable farming techniques, Jean-Luc and Marie-Lise Dorthe craft, with loving hands, wines on land once cultivated by the Romans.' (citation Chloe Wines  LLC.)