It Comes in Waves

We had quite a streak, and I guess I shouldn't complain. For several months, BrooklynLady and I enjoyed opening our wine with dinner without running into a corked bottle. The generally accepted odds say that about 1 in 9 bottles of white wine will be corked, and about 1 in 10 bottles of red. So yes, we had been beating the odds for a while now. Funny, I used to think that I couldn't pick out a corked bottle. Now I know that I actually am quite sensitive to it. Sometimes I am underconfident about it though, and I have to let the wine sit for 15 minutes and try it again to make sure.

Anyway, our good luck ran out three weeks ago and we are mired in an extraordinary slump.It's getting to the point where I'm afraid to open wine - everything is corked. So no special wine lately, nothing from the cellar, only wine that is still on retail shelves so I can return it if (when) it is corked. You can't return a corked wine that you purchased more than a year or so ago, can you?

It started with Pierre Gonon's Vin de Pays de l'Ardèche Les Iles Feray in late May, and this was the first bottle in so long that I argued with myself for a while before accepting the truth. And the flood gates opened and a week later we had corked Shinn Rosé, and five days later it was corked Qupé Roussanne.

Tonight, merely two days after the corked Qupé, some friends invited us for a quintessential summer dinner of burgers off the grill. This guy likes Bordeaux, so I brought a wine I thought he would enjoy, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah from Provence, a naturally made wine with beautiful aromatics and a real sense of place, the 2000 Domaine du Deffends Côteaux Varois Clos de la Truffière. I had it bagged so everyone could taste it blind and enjoy it without preconceptions - it should have been great with burgers and vinegary salad. But it was ferociously corked. And I hadn't brought a second bottle. Lame, lame, lame.

Is this my destiny for the nest two months? Loads of corked wine? And what are the rules, anyway, for wine that I've cellared if it's corked? Are there due process rules that I have to respect regarding the retailer? One day I'm going to open some fancy bottle of Burgundy that I've nurtured for 12 years in the cellar, something of which I could afford to buy only one single bottle...and it will be corked. And then, my friends, you will hear the sound of Brooklynguy yelling.

By the Glass - Rosé Edition

Is there a simpler pleasure than a glass of good rosé in spring? Rosé is a wine of pure happiness - abundantly fragrant and ripe fruit is what it's all about. And when it's good, there is zippy acidity to balance the fruit, and perhaps even some mineral or other flavors too. If you're willing to spend $25 or more, the rosés of Bandol in Provence are among the world's finest, and I think they're worth every penny. I love drinking Bandol rosé, but I prefer to spend about $15 on everyday wine, and from what I've found so far this spring, there are some excellent rosés available at that price point. Here are the rosés I've had at home so far this spring, some great, some not as great:

2008 Commanderie de Peyrassol Côtes de Provence Rosé, $14, Rosenthal Imports. Fragrant with ripe berries and a hint of orange zest. The palate is crisp and balanced, and there is a lovely mineral component, something like wet steel. Delicious food friendly wine, at a great price. If I had to pick only one rosé for the rest of the summer, so far this would be my pick.

2008 Domaine de la Sauveuse Cuvée Carolle Côtes de Provence Rosé, $14, Imported by Vintage Trading Inc. 40% Syrah, 30% each Grenache and Cinsault. Sauveuse is quietly making excellent and inexpensive wines in the Côtes de Provence, and farming organically too. They are intense wines, packed with fruit, and somewhat oxidative in character. This lovely rosé is the essence of fresh strawberries, and with a bit of air it has enough glycerin to feel a bit viscous in texture. There is a slightly peppery, salt pork nuance that I assume comes from the Syrah. There is good acidity and that metallic tang I mentioned above.

2008 Shinn Estate Vineyards Rosé, $13.50. My favorite North Fork of Long Island producer and this is my favorite Shinn wine. This compares very favorably to the above wines in both quality and price. Made mostly of Merlot, although I do not know the exact blend. This wine shows beautiful clean fruit, great acidity, and an energetic lean texture. David Page and Barbara Shinn practice organic and in some plots biodynamic farming, and treat their vineyards as the living ecosystems that they are. My notes from a few years ago say that this wine is fermented entirely using indigenous yeasts. Really a lovely wine.

2006 Château Font du Broc Côtes de Provence Rosé, about $23, Imported by Meilleurs Vins de Provence. Disclaimer - I received this wine as a sample from the importer. 60% Mourvèdre, 20% Carignan, 15% Syrah, and 5% Grenache. Lovely strawberry fruit and I love the hint of animale on the nose - the influence of the Mourvèdre, no doubt. This is delicious wine, but it doesn't feel as fresh as it should, and that's probably because the acidity is not all that strong.

2008 Domaine des Deux Anes Vin de Table Le Rosé, $14, Jenny & François Selections. Mostly Carignan, although I do not know the blend. This is a strange wine, and in the end, I liked it. But BrooklynLady did not, and I suppose that it might provoke that kind of reaction at many dinner tables. This is not a passive wine that will go unnoticed as people talk and eat. At first it seemed too earthy, a little dirty almost, but it just needed time to flesh out. This is serious rosé, with blood orange and grapefruit, nice acidity and good texture. But the palate is a bit unusual (perhaps explaining the VdT status), with something like a Chinato flavor profile. Not for sipping - have this with lamb kabobs or grilled fish with a mess of herbs.

2007 Domaine du Deffends Côteaux Varois Rosé d'une Nuit, $20, Robert Chadderdon Selections. A blend of Grenache and Cinsault, don't know the exact proportions. Ripe fruit with a definite herbal undertone, a lovely nose. Good fruit on the palate, but without any real definition or snap, and in the end, not all that satisfying. Which is too bad, because this is supposed to be a great wine.

2008 Macari Rosé, $15. Disclaimer - I received this wine as a sample from the producer. Another wine from the north Fork of Long Island, another Merlot blend, but this one is not in the same class as the Shinn wine. This one smells like a chemistry set - the fruit seems artificial, it made us think of pop rocks. Same on the palate - too sweet in an artificial way.