A California winery has created a new wine mash-up it touts as being a first in the industry: Chardonnay rosé.
Just in time for summer sipping, Sill Family Vineyards in Napa Valley is set to launch a new wine called “très Chardonnay de Rosé” that claims to elevate the maligned rosé to a superior wine using grapes like Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.
According to Sill, the Chardonnay de Rosé makes no shortcuts: Instead of using lesser grapes like Grenache, Cinsault, Carignan, Syrah and Mourvedre, which is commonplace in traditional rosé, the Chardonnay de Rosé is aged in French white oak barrels and made with superior varietals: 98 percent Sonoma Coast Chardonnay blended with 2 per cent Rutherford bench Napa Georges de Latour Cabernet Sauvignon.
The result is a “crisp, rich, balanced, buttery floral Rosé” which will have a limited production of 760 bottles, says Sill.
Meanwhile, last year marked the summer of the frosé — a blush-pink frozen cocktail made with frozen rosé wine and pureed strawberries. And with the return of warmer weather, the frozen cocktail shows no sign of waning in popularity.
Trendspotters are also predicting that canned rosé wine will become an increasingly acceptable form of imbibing this summer, as a portable and convenient way to quench thirst.
