UPDATE – Snooth Global Virtual Tasting: Rosé

Grab your favorite bottle of Rosé, pop the cork on Wednesday, June 20, at 5:30 pm PST, and share your tasting notes with other wine enthusiasts from around the globe –  this virtual tasting is going to be a whole load of fun.

Join me along with Snooth.com Editor-In-Chief, Gregory Dal Piaz, during this LIVE virtual tasting that will be all about Rosés from wine regions far and wide. Learn about its characteristics, discover the uniqueness of different regions and explore food and Rosé wine pairings. There will be a LIVE video of the tasting along with a virtual tasting chat room where you can ask questions and get involved by sharing your thoughts about the Rosé you’ll be popping the cork on.

I’ll be tasting some spectacular locally grown and produced Rosés in addition to the Rosés that will be featured LIVE with Gregory Dal Piaz. To RSVP to this fun and interactive event, click here.

UPDATE: 

On June 20, I participated in my second global virtual tasting. Last year, I attended Twitters universal global tasting of Pinot Noir, aptly named the Pinot Smack Down. Wine enthusiasts from around the world tasted Pinots from their regions (or other regions) while tweeting their tasting notes, live, through their twitter accounts. Participation was incredibly successful, with an astonishing 8.7 million impressions and reaching nearly 450,000 Twitter users.

It’s a fact, global tasting initiatives attract wine enthusiasts from around the world. This time, the global tasting was initiated by Snooth.com, and the focus was Rosé. Snooth chose six Rosés from around the world to taste during a live stream video. A chat box was set up for participating Rosé tasters, and Snooths Editor-In-chief, Gregory Dal Piaz along with two special guests, hosted the event on the live video stream.

Since I’m a Snooth.com Mentor, Snooth sent me three of the six wines they were tasting; therefore, I could share my notes with them during the live tasting. I received the 2011 Muga from the Rioja region of Spain, 2011 Lucien Crochet Sancerre Pinot Rosé from the Loire Valley of France and the 2011 Chateau de la Roulerie Rosé d’ Anjou, also from the Loire Valley.  I was also able to gather three Rosés from the Willamette Valley: King Estate’s Acrobat 2011 Rosé of Pinot Noir, Territorial’s 2010 Rosé of Pinot Noir and Pfeiffer Vineyards 2011 Blushing Bride Rosé of Merlot.

On the day of the tasting, here in the Willamette Valley, the sun was shining and the temperatures were a perfect 7 degrees – excellent weather for a Rosé. When the tasting went live on Snooth, Snooth’s Editor-In-Chief Gregory Dal Piaz and two special guests got right down to business after quick introductions, and they poured the 2011 Muga from Rioja first. I followed their lead.

2011 Muga Rosé:  In the glass, this Rosé was nearly clear in color with a beautiful salmon colored tint and slightly darker salmon halo. Fresh fruit aromas, predominantly peach, jumped from the glass, and flavors showcased watermelon and strawberry with a hint of spice. Dry, crisp and very light bodied, this was extremely refreshing. When I tried this about thirty minutes after popping the cork, it really opened up and was very, very good.

While the hosts sampled their next wine, one I didn’t have, I opened up King Estate’s Acrobat 2011 Rosé of Pinot Noir.

2011 Acrobat Rosé of Pinot Noir: The color of this wine reminded me of pink lemonade. Aromas of watermelon and navel oranges lead to delicious, well rounded and super juicy ripe watermelon flavors. Not too dry, but definitely not overly sweet, the mouthfeel is silky with a long very pleasing finish. Although Acrobat is King Estate’s second label and very affordable, this is a high quality Rosé that is perfect for sipping in the summer – I loved it.

The third wine sampled by the hosts was the Lucien Crochet 2011 Rosé, and I loved the beautiful salmon color of this wine.

2011 Lucien Crochet Sancerre Rosé: All around – the color, aromas and flavors – this wine was a beauty. Very fragrant aromas of peach and strawberry lead to vibrant and big flavors of strawberry, cherry, cranberry and spice. Great acidity and minerality bring the wine together to create well balanced fruit and acidity.

After the Lucien Crochet, I sampled Territoial’s 2010 Rosé of Pinot Noir while the hosts sampled another wine I didn’t have in my group of six.

Territorial Vineyards 2010 Rosé of Pinot Noir: Hot pink in color, this is beautiful in the glass. Ripe summer strawberry and tangerine aromas are followed by crisp fruit flavors of strawberries and pineapple. Crisp and refreshing with a finish that is very slightly sweet with a tiny hint of caramel. Excellent summer wine that’s great on it’s own, but I bet it would go great with a meat and cheese plate.

The next wine I sampled along with the hosts of the global tasting was the Chateau de la Roulerie 2011 Rosé d’Anjou. As I was pouring my wine into my glass, I noticed that the live chat feature was very busy with people instantly commenting on how sweet this wine was. Up to this point, most of the Rosés were dry, with the exception that the finish on the Territorial was very slightly sweet. So, I was anxious to see how sweet this wine could actually be.

Chateau de la Roulerie 2011 Rosé d’Anjou: Delicate aromas made it sort of difficult for me to pinpoint what I was smelling, but I did get slight floral aromas and maybe some red berry fruit. Up front, I did immediately notice the sweetness, but cirtrus orange and lemon flavors mid-palate and on the finish balanced out the sweetness pretty nicely. This would be a great wine for people who are just starting to drink wine, and I imagined this wine would be really good with a spicy Cajun dish.

The sixth and last Rosé of the day for me to sample was Pfeiffer Vineyards 2011 Blushing Bride Rosé of Merlot.

Pfeiffer Vineyards 2011 Blushing Bride Rosé of Merlot: This perfect summer wine is all about the strawberries. Fresh, Oregon strawberries on the nose and on the palate along with hints of kiwi make this wine very slightly sweet, but an impression of grapefruit on the finish creates a well balanced and vibrant Rosé. I can imagine this wine is a big hit for summer weddings…with the name and all.

While sampling these six wines, I chimed in on the live chat feature with my tasting notes and comments. Participants were encouraged to ask questions, which they did, and the hosts would answer their questions with expertise. I also used Twitter, along with other global tasters, using the hashtag #VTSnooth (virtual tasting Snooth), and I noticed that many people from around the world were invlolved in tasting and tweeting notes on the Rosés they were sampling. This was a true reminder of how technology is able to bring like-minded people from around the globe together to share their experiences, and I’m looking forward to the next global tasting event.

Follow me in my world of virtual wine on Snooth.com, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. For wine events & happenings in the South Willamette Valley (and sometimes the Umpqua Valley), check out my weekly column on Eugene Daily News, Wine Down Eugene.