A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Yes, every time I see a bottle of this rosado on this blog, I will do my old person thing and scream at the clouds about how it used to be readily available… like five-cases-at-a-time available. So just deal with it!
Originally published on November 15, 2009.
This post is a re-run. But I thought it was pretty perfect when I wrote it last year. And I still think it’s pretty perfect. The wine in question is the Lopez de Heredia Rosado. Last year, the 1997 was in stock. This year, it’s the 1998, which is a touch rounder, a touch more tropical. But tropical for Lopez isn’t exactly Hawaiian tropics. I say it every time I talk about this wine – the fruit isn’t the primary note, which is unexpected for a rose. Unexpected enough that we stuck a warning label on the wine. But if you trust my pairing recommendations – and you’re up for a little adventure – a little Lopez Rosado could be just the thing to perk up your Thanksgiving spread. On to the re-run:
Lopez de Heredia Todonia Rosado 1998 (Rioja, Spain)
Imagine Thanksgiving dinner (the food, not your crazy uncle or your tispy cousin-three-times-removed.
The cranberry sauce, the turkey, the yams, the turkey, the stuffing, the turkey. It’s a wine-pairing nightmare. But this is the wine that can handle it all. Delicate enough to handle the turkey (which let’s face it, is pretty bland), a little fruit to deal with the cranberries and exotic enough to stand up to the stuffing, yams, and even pumpkin pie. It’s perfect.
But it’s not exactly your typical rosé – it has some of the tangy-ness you’ll find in a good fino sherry, only a hint of fruit, and lovely exotic spices like cardamom and ginger.
So if you’re intrigued and looking for a little adventure, track down a bottle and include it in your turkey day wine spread. You should be able to find it for under $30 which may be a lot for a typical rosé, but not this rosé.