Beatrice's Blushes: A lost summer...

Well, it has been over four months since I've posted anything to this website. About nine months ago, my wife and I found out we were pregnant with baby number two! Ben was going to get a little sister. Wine took a back seat to completely rearranging our home and getting ready for the newest member of our family. Not drinking wine led me to posting less frequently and finally at some point I simply just stopped.

Well, I am happy to report that Ben's sister made her Thanksgiving Day debut. Mom and Baby Beatrice are home and doing well, and I'm eager to reclaim my status as a lowly wine blogger. I am going to post more regularly and give more attention to what's in the bottle and less writing about wine writing (though Dr. Oldman might make his way to the keyboard every once in a while). As I did with Ben's Bubbly and attempted to do with Ben's Blush, I want to post weekly on a specific style of wine and reflect on the first year of a child's life. So, I've decided to rebrand the weekly rosé series as Beatrice's Blushes. To restart things, I want to quickly post on a few pink wines (actually the only three) I had during the summer months when I was overlooking the blog.

First up, on Father's Day (yeah, way back in June) I just couldn't help myself by opening my only bottle of 2014 Sandlands Blush (purchased $20). It was a perfect companion to listening to 38 Special while sitting on my deck eating salmon and crab cakes. As weird as it sounds, it tasted like everything you like about white zinfandel without the sugar. It had great fruit crossed with tension brought on by perfect acidity.

The next rosé was the 2013 Rosseau Freres Noble Joué Touraine from France (sample $17).  It is a unique blend of pinot meunier (50%), pinot gris (35%), and pinot noir (15%). You rarely see see pinot meunier anywhere but Champagne. This wine was full of orange fruit flavors: peaches, cantaloupe, and yuzu. It was creamy, smooth and just simply delicious.

Finally, one of my pet peeves is hearing people people say that rosé can't age. This 2012 Bedrock Ode to Lulu proves those people wrong. Despite being longer in the tooth than most rosé, this old-vine Mourvèdre was full of grapefruit zest, unripe nectarines, sea salt and my succulent jamón ibérico flavors. If you're looking for fruit and lusciousness, this is not going to be your cup of tea. Nevertheless, for acid-freaks like me it was quite delicious.

Now, I can't promise anything, but I am going to try my darnedest to post more regularly and keep up with the weekly Beatrice's Blushes series. Cheers!