Good Things Come to Those Who Wait: Late Summer Rosés

8/22/13 -

The thirst for rosé wine is at its seemingly unquenchable peak in late spring, when The Season’s pale pink and white wine-like rosés begin to arrive. (Only in reference to rosé do we speak about “season” as though we’re selling open-toed shoes or baseball tickets – items that are only relevant at one time of year – rather than wine. White wine, red wine, sparkling wine, fortified wine is drunk year round. Rosé supposedly — and we don't agree — is only for summer…) Most early summer rosé favorites are from the Côte d’Azur, with a number of meaningful inclusions from other parts of France, Austria, Italy, Spain, and the US. For the most part these are fresh and delicate wines that aid in the celebration of long days and warm nights, outside dining and tables laden with fresh produce.   

As much as we enjoy the refreshing rosés of early summer, some of the most soulful and complex rosés of the year come later in the season. There’s a reason for this. Early release rosés are all too often made to take advantage of The Market during The Season; production is quick and copious. Late-release rosés, which reach us after the frenzy, have an appealing authenticity. They are made to be good wines, without The Season and The Market in mind.

We have just received what is, to my mind and palate, the quintessential late summer rosé: Ilarria Irouléguy rosé from the remote frontier of southwestern France. Peio Espil, the winemaker at Ilarria, is a native of French basque country and this Domaine lies a mere six miles from the Spanish border. Certified organic by Ecocert, Ilarria produces earthy, complex, and deliciously challenging red, white, and rosé. Ilarria’s pink wine defies the category, and is beautifully expressive of the unusual landscape whence it comes. Magenta in color, laden with deep, ripe red fruit and pepper on the nose, this full-bodied and dry rosé gains complexity over days open, becoming an intensely earthy and high-toned wine that is both sleek and wild.

For the most part though not entirely, these are robust rosés that will seamlessly partner with fall as well as summer fare. More “serious” in the sense of structure and tannin than the limpid rosés that delight us in May and June, our most recently arrived batch of pink wines over-deliver in terms of vinous complexity. We urge you to try them. Santé! -Sophie