Garden Rosé Tasting #5

Vin Gris de Cigare 2005, Bonny Doon (saq...$17)

With a label inspired by a local French law which forbade spaceships from landing in their vineyards (I’m serious), this is yet another Randall Graham homage to Châteauneuf-du-Pape. A blend of Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvedre, Cunoise, Syrah and Viogner, the 2005 version strikes me as his best effort yet.

The color is a delicate pink with orange highlights. The bouquet is both pretty and complex with a nice balance struck between typical Provençal herbs like rosemary and thyme, and a nicely understated fruit of guava, strawberry and pomegranate.

The mouth is bone dry with a nice crisp acidity and follows through on the herbal notes that we found in the nose, though with the addition of some red peppercorn. It had decent length and I found a hint of iodine along with a touch of strawberry on the finish.

Oh but what to eat? It works okay as an aperitif with all those herbal notes, but it's a shame not to give it some food. It would be a great lunch wine with a salad nicoise or even better, with a cold lobster salad served with some roquette and other bitter greens, or as we did, salmon.

This year, the SAQ tripled its order to 3000 cases to satisy what seems to be an insatiable local demand for this Randall Graham creation. And with reason, as it is consistently one of the better rosés on the market, and probably the most complete rosé I have tasted this summer….. so far!

Garden Update
Everything is in the ground or seeded, but as the azaleas bloom, one must pay homage ourselves. Next up…a rosé from Chinon.

2006 rosé ranking
1. Vin Gris de Cigare 2005, Bonny Doon
2. Toscana Igt 2005, Rosato, Carpineto
3. Coteaux du Languedoc 2005, Château de Lancyre
4. Costières de Nîmes 2005, Domaine Saint-André
5. Saint Chinian 2005, Clos de L'Orb