Summer Time and a Rose

I love a good Rose wine on a summer day and I found one recently at a wine tasting that I enjoyed.  We hosted a wine tasting this past weekend and did wines from California and chose the Zinfandel.  We didn't have any of the sweet white zinfandel, but went dry and red.

This wine comes from Napa Valley and is called Zin Gris made by the Storybook Mountain Vineyards.  Please note that it may be hard to find as they don't make it every year, but the 2011 version that I had was lovely.  It is patteren after the dry rose wines of Rhone and Provence.  It is aromatic and deeply flavored with a kiss of oak.  This is a rose that comes from a zinfandel grape. 

The winery crushes the fully mature grapes and slowly barrel ferment them to the dryness you experience under the cool conditions of their caves.  It would go great with a smoked salmon.  Ask for it at you local wine store.  It is great this time of year on a hot summer day.   You can see other wines from Storybook Mountain at www.storybookwines.com.