Sommelier Tries 20 Rosé Wines Under $20

So there's no rose grape,

I think a lotta people are under that misconception

of like Oh, does that taste like a rose?

Much like someone saying

Does that taste like a white wine?

It's just a broad category.

Hey, I'm sommelier Andre Hueston Mack,

and today we're gonna be tasting 20 roses under $20.

So rose as a category has become wildly popular,

and slightly underrated, and confusing.

But today, I'm gonna show you how to pick out a great one.

I love Rose.

I think for me it's seasonal,

but also like, it's fun and it's festive

and you can enjoy it any time of year.

You can use many different grapes.

There's many different styles.

We have 20 roses here, all under 20 bucks.

I'm gonna crack them open and taste them,

and give you my honest opinion.

First up here in the United States.

We have Wolffer Estate, Summer In A Bottle.

And this is from Long Island, New York, and this is $19.99.

A little splashy splash.

Kinda pale salmon color.

Nose, ah man, that smells like cotton candy.

There's like stone fruits, peaches and apricots,

wet sea stone.

A slight hint of like the yellow Skittle.

So there's some citrus to it.

That's pretty refreshing.

Somewhat electric in a way,

there's more grapefruit on the palate.

That's pretty tasty.

And Long Island is a coastal area,

'cause it is a cooler climate,

but you just need to make sure

that you have enough ambient heat during the summer months.

It's starting to gain recognition worldwide.

And now you're starting to see a lotta these wines

being distributed nationally.

I mean, we should probably jump in here

and talk about how rose is made.

[soothing electronic music]

When you're making rose, it could be a light pressing,

where you crush that grape,

and you have very little skin contact,

leaving with this beautiful color.

Depending on how long you soak the skins in the juice

will determine the color.

But also, what you would find in a lotta roses,

there are white wines as well,

I believe this contains some chardonnay.

This wine is great.

And at 19.99, I think this is pretty spot on

and I think you get what you pay for.

I'm just cleanin' up.

[laughs] [crew laugh]

Up next from Washington State we have Charles & Charles.

This is $15.

This is a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre,

and a small bit of Cabernet Sauvignon.

So it is not unusual for a rose to have multiple grapes,

or contain multiple grapes.

Rarely do you see a rose that's from one grape.

You can use up to 14 different grapes, I believe.

Right, so I think it's more of like a recipe.

We'll go ahead and taste this here.

So kinda pale color here, almost looks a little bit peachy.

There's definitely fruit there,

but there's some earth, there's peaches, papaya, guava.

This is kind of like a fruit cocktail in the best kinda way.

That's not a wimpy rose, by any means,

that wine has texture, it has grip.

It does have some tannin too.

And so like when I say texture, it's a sensation,

it's not like drinking water,

that kinda just flows off the palate,

there's layers, it coats the tongue.

There's definitely a hint of a smoke element,

on the fruit side.

I don't know if it's that 7% cabernet

that really gives gives a wine like this

kinda pack a punch.

This is really, really flavorful.

Next up is Summer Water, California, $18.

You know, kinda salmon-esque, pinkish.

This is gonna sound funny,

this is kinda like prosciutto and melon.

This is immediately what kinda jumps out of the glass at me.

It has weight from alcohol, right,

so it's not a a flimsy rose,

that I feel that falls short on the palate.

Rose, somehow, has taken on this whole persona

of bein' the Beaujolais Noveau of summer.

Right, it's the first pressing, it's fresh.

I think as a marketing campaign,

especially here in America,

rose was this thing that is what you drank in the summer.

That's how we got Americans to drink rose,

and now we're educating Americans

to say that rose can be consumed all year long.

I like this one.

You know what, $18,

I feel like this wine earns that extra $3 or $8 jump.

Thanks babe!

[laughs] Maybe that's what it is.

Next up we have Babe Rose, 16 for a four pack, $4 a can.

This is made with bubbles, and this is from California.

Hey you guys.

You look great.

Love your face, love your energy.

You're welcome.

Love you, miss you, hate you, love you, mean it, Babe.

This is bottled by yes queen.

[crew laugh] [laughs]

I think this is great,

I have always been a proponent of alternative packaging.

The vessel doesn't matter all that much

if what's inside is good.

This speaks to volumes of people

who love to enjoy wine and go hiking.

If you're at the pool, no glass, it's recyclable,

so, I dig it.

Pretty dark.

It has more of a red tinge to it than it does pink.

Oh.

It's got a little funk to it, kinda like a BO funk to it.

And it smells like a bad antique store.

So you get this rush of sweetness.

And then it's kinda amplified by all the carbonation.

But it still doesn't cover up the fact

that what you get on the nose is what you get in the mouth

and it's kind of very unpleasant to me.

I can see how people would like this.

It's sweet, it has alcohol, it's fizzy.

This is a surefire way to a hangover, it's just too sweet.

I wish I was a rose babe, I'm sorry guys.

Maybe next time.

So here we have Daou from Paso Robles, California,

and this is 19.99.

Alright, so this is 100% Grenache.

So there's definitely herbs, a little bit of bell pepper.

Really really ripe raspberry.

It's pretty full body.

It has a little too much alcohol for me.

I don't know if I'm bein' a baby or somethin' like that,

but just like a smidgen.

When we think about rose,

we're thinking about stuff around 12%.

But 14 is, you know, it's much.

And so people like that,

I think people are like Hey, this is alcohol.

This is supposed to taste like alcohol.

For me, this is just a little too much on that.

So next up we have McBride Sisters.

This is their Black Girl Magic Rose, from California,

and it is 19.99.

It's kinda like this neon raspberry color.

Definitely strawberries.

This hint of kinda cotton candy.

There is some citrus.

I'd like there to be a little bit more acidity to it.

But overall, I think it's pretty solid.

$19, I'd probably want a little bit more information

about is it from a specific appellation

with inside of California.

For the people that are attracted to this,

people love this brand, they have a loyal following,

I think that they're getting what they pay for.

Next up we have Dark Horse Rose, from California, at $10.

It looks pretty dark.

Or a darker color could mean

that they're using thicker-skin grapes,

or there's a longer maceration time.

Or, it could mean

that they were just actually blending white and red,

and just was heavy handed more with the red.

It's kind of like a frosted cherry pop tart.

That's not good.

It has a lot of alcohol.

And it almost tastes like kinda one of those malt beverages.

When you talk about a balanced wine,

all the components are integrated pretty well.

This wine is not.

All we taste is alcohol.

And this is something that, at $10, I would pass on.

So next up we have Josh Cellars from California.

And this is $14.

That's it, it doesn't tell us really anything else about it,

except that it's a California appellation,

which means that it can be sourced anywhere in California.

That generally is associated with a certain type of quality.

And as you start to get a little bit more specific

about where the grapes come from,

then the quality is upped, and generally the price is up.

And then if you're talking about a specific site,

a vineyard site, generally there's another bump in quality,

and you can expect to pay a little bit more.

[vocalizes]

There is some residual sugar in it,

I think there's a hint of sweetness

that will lure people in, I think people would like that.

So residual sugar is residual,

meaning leftover sugar from the fermentation.

You can control how much sugar is left in the wine

by how long you ferment it,

so you can ferment it completely dry.

You can stop it halfway, then you'll have more sugar.

That's why the wine tastes sweet at the end.

At 14 bucks,

I feel like that we could probably get something

that was a little bit more compelling.

I don't know, this leaves me longing

for a little something else.

Alright, next up is Barefoot.

This is Pink Moscato at $11.

And this is from California.

And it says Deliciously sweet,

so I think the wine is gonna be sweet.

Just gonna prepare myself for that.

No judgment here, I like sweet wine too.

So it's like potpourri bubblegum.

Feels like a heavy scented oil.

So I thought the wine was gonna be like cloyingly sweet.

It's not.

I couldn't imagine drinking more than one glass.

If I was going to ever enjoy this or be at a party,

I would definitely wanna be next to the cheese tray.

I love to serve sweet wine with cheese.

You know, I can see how people like it.

If this is your jam, this is your jam.

When they say don't yuck anybody's yum,

that's what they're talking about right here.

Alright, next up, all the way from Turkey.

This is Pasaeli.

And this is made from the Yugen grape,

which is known for making really great roses in this region.

Hmm.

Citrus, strawberry, raspberry.

This wine's got body.

From the nose,

I wouldn't expect it to be this full body,

it's not overpowering, but there's a roundness to the wine,

and when I say body, it just means mouth feel.

And generally that's perceived through alcohol, or tannin.

I know [bleep] about wines from Turkey.

And this is what swigs so great about the world of wine.

It's constantly changing,

emerging new regions, and countries.

And to me that's what's fun, it's a lifelong passion.

I want to try the red wine, this is great.

I would drink this like all day, all day long.

It's kinda cool.

[upbeat electronic music]

So next up, from Austria, we have Gobelsburg.

This is $16.

This is a blend of Zweigelt, St. Laurent, and Pinot Noir.

Those are kind of the three main red wine grapes in Austria.

That wine has a zip and a pop to it that's pretty amazing.

When I say zip, pop,

those are all to talk about its acidity in the wine.

And this wine has beautiful acidity,

not out of balance, just perfect.

I mean you have to taste this wine

You have to taste this wine.

This wine begs and screams

Drink me now, wherever you're at.

I think you do a disservice just to say

that you can only drink it by the pool

during the summertime.

And so when we first started this conversation

about tasting rose, and we talked about this category

being somewhat underrated and underserved,

these are one of the shining stars,

this wine here, this is a real wine,

made by real winery with real intention.

Next up we have Baela, and this is from Spain.

This is Txakoli Rose, and this is 19.99.

This is from the Basque region of Spain,

so the northern part of Spain.

Actually some of my favorite roses

come from that particular region.

Now the Basque region I like

is 'cause it has its own dialect and own cuisine.

And a lot of the top restaurants in the world

are located on the Basque Coast.

This is a really interesting grape, it's called Hondarrabi.

So even if you look at the bottle, there's some bubbles.

So generally these wines are bottled

shortly right after fermentation.

And it's just a little trapped gas

nothing to be alarmed with.

And generally, they have these pourers

that they put on these wines.

So you're supposed to pour them really high

to kinda help dissipate some of the gas

that's left in the bottle.

Wow, this is really herbaceous, grassy, pepper.

Now there's a little bit of fruit in there,

but it's really kinda covered and clouded

in all these grassy notes, this is beautiful.

Definitely something different,

stark contrast to all the wines that we tasted today.

Herb forward.

When you think about applications

and how to pair that with food.

You know, I get excited

about havin' something like this in my repertoire.

So next up, from Italy, from Tuscana,

we have the Casanova Della Spinetta.

This is $19.

This is 50% Sangiovese, and 50% Prugnolo Gentile.

Never heard of it, but let's taste it.

It's infinite grapes out there.

And then they're named after the local dialect,

but they might be genetically the same as some other grape,

but they call it something different in this area.

Ah.

Very fruity, but it feels really gentle.

You know, melon, strawberry.

And then the weird thing is

it's kind of like this little bit of a smell of raw meat.

Not in a bad way.

Everything about that wine, I'm gonna say gentle,

but what it really comes out, it's pretty elegant.

I guess in some ways, people would say silky.

To me there's a quality to it

that doesn't exist in any other roses that we tasted today.

There's something about this wine

that seems like it was intentional,

that this wasn't a byproduct

of some other wine that they make.

But generally speaking, rose is the stuff

that normally hits the ground,

that would go down the drain,

and you make somethin' else out of it.

This feels like there was a lotta attention to detail here.

Now we're off to Germany.

This is Von Winning, this is 19.99.

This is Pinot Noir.

Affectionately known locally as Spatburgunder.

Say it all with me, say it on three, one, two, three.

[in unison] Spatburgunder. Spatburgunder.

[chuckles]

This is located in the Pfalz region.

Germany is a pretty cool place.

I think with global warming,

you're startin' to see a lotta the red wines come out

that could never get right before, and now getting right.

And you're startin' to see them emerging in other markets.

You generally don't find a lotta roses from Germany.

and so I think it's always fun to see

and to see it represented.

Strawberry just right off the top.

And then almost kinda like

a little lemon custard in the back.

It's ripe, it's round, no residual sugar at all.

Kinda reminds me of being in a mechanical shop,

like there's a petrol-ness to it

that I find comforting and pleasant.

This was good.

So next up, from France, we have La Vielle Ferme.

And this is $10.

It is a blend of Grenache, Cinsault, and Syrah.

I've seen it around for a long time.

You could get these bottles for 4.95, so,

I think I've drank my fair share of these

when I first got it started, we all start somewhere.

I'm eager to taste these again.

So I get, right off the bat, spice.

It almost makes me sneeze a little bit.

I guess what I wasn't expecting on taste

is that it has some sweetness to it.

It feels like that it's made for the American palate.

I think for a lotta people,

they shove this in the ice box, it gets super cold,

they have some nachos or whatever, and they're chillin'.

No shade, I get it.

I think most people drink rose cold.

I think if there's a crime there,

I think a lotta people drink it too cold.

That numbs the flavor.

You should take your white wines or roses

out of the refrigerator

20 minutes before you want to drink them,

to let them come up to temperature,

because colder is not always better.

So next up we have The Pinot Project,

this is Rose, a pinot noir from France,

and this is $10.

A single-grape varietal rose,

pinot noir is considered a premium grape in that sense,

and you generally don't see it in rose form.

It smells like the marshmallows from Lucky Charms.

It tastes like it's a bowl of cantaloupe,

with a few bit of raspberries on it.

But definitely like cantaloupe, to me,

is a very present thing.

So it's not like overly sweet or tart.

Very interesting to me, especially at a $10 price point.

And once we start to get down under 10 or under 12,

I start to go through this mental exercise.

Does it actually taste real?

Does it taste like it's a real thing,

that it comes from the earth?

This checks those boxes.

So next up, from the Languedoc, in France,

we have Gerard Bertrand.

This is Cote des Roses, and this is $18.

I believe the bottom of the bottle is a rose.

Marketing is everywhere, even when you try to fight it.

You're like Well [bleep], I'm not gonna do anything,

I'm just gonna put it in a paper bag.

Well that's marketing.

Hopefully the proof is inside the bottle.

So this is a glass closure here.

With a little plastic suction cup around the bottom

that just fits right back in the glass there, I like that.

These kinda closures are for consumption of young wines.

There's a little bit of spice.

The wine finishes with this white pepper.

This is Syrah, Grenache, and Cinsault.

Cinsault definitely kinda has

this peppery kinda thing goin' on in it.

This is pretty tasty.

I'm quite surprised, you know.

It does taste a little sweet on the palate,

and maybe that's just

the ripeness of fruit that I'm getting.

But, marketing aside, that's pretty good.

Final thoughts on this wine?

I'm surprised.

Truly, like, I might even spend my own money.

[laughs]

Okay, now we have The Little Sheep of France.

And this is $12.

I feel like one-trick pony, in that sense of it is sweet,

especially with it being a product of France.

And to be honest,

it tastes like three of the other ones I just had.

Didn't really thrill me in any way.

I think at 12 bucks

I think you could probably do better for cheaper.

I mean, what I feel like this wine is missing,

it's not true to a sense of place.

So it doesn't have the nuances

or things that speak to me of a certain place.

Wine tasting is personal.

Maybe our tastes align, maybe they don't.

Up next, we travel to the south of France, Provence,

this is The Beach by Whispering Angel, and this is $19.

This is very colorful packaging.

It's really inviting, it's so funny, people say,

Oh, you really shouldn't shop by labels,

but people spend a lotta money on artwork, right?

People look at packaging all the time now.

Gonna give it a little splash here.

Funny, it smells like rice pudding to me,

with a little bit of cinnamon.

So a little bit watermelon on the palate.

It is somewhat smoky.

It's not bad, it just feels like one dimensional,

I feel like I want there to be something else.

You know, some of the attributes

that I was smelling in the nose,

I don't get any of that on the back end.

Alright, so next up, from France, we have Isle Saint Pierre,

and this is a Magnum, this is a double bottle.

So, for scale, you can see here.

Standard size bottle, 750 milliliters.

Magnum, double size bottle.

We call these large formats.

You know, it's all about bringing the party,

people see you walk in with it.

This is a quality wine that's served in a magnum.

I think sometimes what you see

you see bargain wine in magnums just for large format,

and that's something totally different.

And they're generally on the bottom shelf, they're 9.99.

And you can tell by they have inexpensive glass.

So it's a flat bottom glass.

You can kinda tell this is a high-quality glass.

So if you're thinking about collectible red wines,

the larger format that you can get those wines in,

the more coveted they are, the more expensive they are,

because it will take a lot longer for those wines to age,

because of the size.

So grassy notes, herbaceous.

Melon, raspberry.

That's kinda quintessential French rose.

It has the savory components to it,

there is some fruit, it's not overly sweet, it has terroir.

That's pretty remarkable,

if you figure this bottle of wine is 20 bucks, 19.99.

It's two bottles in that,

so, you know, each bottle is about 10 bucks.

It gets better than that,

but it doesn't get any better at that price point.

This is spot on.

Awards for today,

I normally don't give out a lot of awards.

My two favorites.

This is from La Spinetta, from Tuscany in Italy,

and this is from Austria, this is Gobelsberg.

They were so different from a style standpoint,

where bright and fresh.

And here, this was just so elegant,

and felt like it was treated with so much care.

It felt like this bottle of wine

shoulda cost double the price.

[upbeat percussive music]

I would like everybody to walk away

understanding that rose is a category of wine,

and within that category of wine

there's many different styles for any curious wine drinker,

and I think you just have to try them.

And even still to this day, I still get excited,

I still get caught off guard.

There are some serious wines that are made that are rose

that have been here long before this wave or fad

kinda came to America.

Rose is a category, and within that category,

there's some great wine out there to be discovered.

I had the buyer from Whole Foods say

Oh, we loved your little video.

She goes, But I think I'm better

at picking out $15 wine than you. [laughs]