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.

Ben's Blush: Rochioli Rosé

Three-year olds can be full of energy. Directing that energy towards a single purpose can sometimes be difficult. They bounce around from place to place or activity to activity. So last year, we enrolled Ben in gymnastics and soccer. While he enjoyed both, he really took to gymnastics. There, he could run and play without the specific structure and rules that soccer entailed. When we asked him if he wanted to sign up for gymnastics again, he literally jumped at the opportunity. Last week was the beginning of round two for gymnastics. With a year of maturity under his belt, he is able to sit still during circle time and listen to the instructor explain the skill of the day. He still likes the free-play time and bounces between the trampoline, beam, and bars with no method to his madness. Despite the chaotic nature of his activity, it is fun to watch him enjoy himself.

2012 Rochioli Rosé of Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley AVA

This is another 3-yr old that seems to be bouncing around without a clear purpose. Rochioli has quite a good reputation for producing pinot noir, but unfortunately this bottle was just disappointing. It seemed to be all over the place. It had good acidity and decent light, red-fruit flavors, but taken all together the wine was just sort of bland and disjointed. Maybe it was just this bottle or maybe it was me? I have one other bottle that I'll try at a later date. 14% abv. Purchased $24. Average

Ben's Blush: Boulder Creek Dry Rosé

Four years ago, I decided to start a weekly series on sparkling wine in honor of the impending birth of our first child: Benjamin. It was a fun way to celebrate our new bundle of joy and reflect on his milestones, all while exploring a specific style of wine each week. This year, I decided to resuscitate the concept, but with rosé. I didn't time it with Ben's birthday in mind, but his fourth birthday is rapidly approaching.

It also happens to be the 125th birthday of the City of Littleton, where we have lived for the past six years. For those of you that are unfamiliar with Littleton, it is a quiet suburb of Denver located about 10 miles to the south. The historic downtown area is home to a few shops and restaurants, but an influx of more youth and energy would be highly welcome (though many residents want to keep things as they've always been), as downtown is often too quiet. The addition of Breckenridge Brewery this summer should push things along in that direction.

We happen to live between two parks just a few blocks to the east of the downtown district. Littleton uses one of these parks for its fireworks shows several times a year and we get a front row seat. For the birthday celebration this year, the City decided to use the other park for a fireworks show because the Littleton Museum, next door, was hosting a reception featuring Breckenridge beer and food from the Breckenridge's Farm House Restaurant. A few of our neighbors and our trio of kids all trekked the two blocks to the park to watch the show. I admit, it was odd seeing fireworks going off with snow on the ground, but the show was entertaining nonetheless. Ben ooh'd and aah'd on his own without any prompting. On the way back home, the little ones had a spontaneous dance party, complete with bubbles, on the sidewalk in front of our neighbors' house.

The next morning, Ben and I walked down to the rec center for the birthday carnival and pancake breakfast. I was quite surprised how long the line for pancakes was, but I guess free food will do that. After filling up on pancakes and orange juice, Ben spent a good hour running back and forth between the two inflatable entertainment centers (bounce castles). It was fun seeing all the kids having so much fun (and burning all that excess energy at the same time!). I guess you don't have a 125th birthday every year, but it sure would be a great way to kick off Spring and the coming warm weather every year if the City were to throw a party each March!

2013 Boulder Creek Winery, Dry Rosé, Grand Valley AVA

Sadly, Boulder Creek will not be making any more rosé - any wine for that matter. The owners decided to wind down operations because they couldn't find a new location at a reasonable price. This merlot-based rosé is their swan song for the category of wine they thought could be a signature style for Colorado, even though they had trouble selling it because of the lack of sweetness. The color is almost a neon pink. This was an odd, but interesting, wine. Not because of the wild strawberry, or basil, or thyme aromas and flavors, but because of the smoked pepper - almost cayenne - undertones. The finish was notably spicy and with a bit of heat. It went down easily and was surely unique. 13.2% abv Purchased $16. Good

Ben's Blush: Bailiwick Pinorosa

This whole weekly rosé series hasn't exactly been going as easily as I anticipated after missing last week's wine. So, maybe this won't be a weekly series, but an almost-weekly series. At least it will happen more frequently than my roller skating activities. This past weekend we took Ben roller skating for the first time. I can't even remember the last time I put on roller skates. Ben has a pair of plastic skates go over his shoes, but those are nothing like the real thing. And by real thing I mean Skate City; complete with blaring music, colorful strobe lights, and an annoying DJ. He went around the rink a few times and only fell twice, but was more interested by the bigger kids playing shooter-based arcade games. We only stayed for about an hour, but everyone had fun - including Grandpa with his double guns going in the background (see video below). Ben is definitely looking forward to getting back to Skate City in the near future. I'm pretty sure roller skating won't be a weekly occurrence, but more than an every decade phenomenon.

2013 Bailiwick Pinorosa, Sonoma County

I've quite enjoyed Bailiwicks's vermentino and cabernet franc in the past, but this was my first experience with their rosé. This pink wine is 100% pinot noir from Sonoma County grapes bled off after soaking on the skins for three days. It is a pretty pale pink color and is not overly aromatic. There are lots of tart fruit flavors, but this is probably best as a porch-pounder on a warm summer afternoon. It was a great accompaniment to our wasabi-cilantro-butter yellowfin tuna. 14.1% abc. Purchased $15. Good

Ben's Blush: Matthiasson

2013 Matthiasson Rosé

The weather in Colorado this winter has been beautiful. 60° and sunny has happened more often than not. Finally, Last week we got our first good snow in about two months. We got almost a foot in Littleton where we live. My wife and Ben had a four-day weekend, so we were able to enjoy the snow at home. The hens have not been pleased eithr return to arctic conditions. It took some convincing to get Ben to go outside to play, but when he finally decided to enjoy the snow it was hard to get him to back inside. I built an igloo- well, a wall of snow with a cardboard box on top of it - for him to play in. He really liked it, but was the only person able to fit inside of it. I'm in California this weekend for premiere Napa Valley. I might be staying a bit longer than intended because the forecast for Sunday when I'm supposed to go home is for another 12 to 18 inches of snow to blanket the Denver area. I'm hoping my flight will be able to sneak in through that weather. I'll report back about the PNV tastings next week, but I'm looking forward to picking up a few bottles of the new release of this week's Ben's blush to replenish the rosé stock.

2013 Matthiasson Rosé, California

Steve Matthiasson has been nominated yet again for the James Beard award for his throwback wines he produces from Napa and elsewhere in Northern California. This blend of Rhône cultivars clocks in at eight paltry 11% alcohol. In fact, after we finish the bottle we were able to open a second bottle and drink some of that as well. I felt better after those two bottles of the many full throttle California wines. This is not a rosé to knock your socks off, but it is a lovely, delicate wine. What it lacks in depth, it makes up with zip and brightness. The underripe white peach, pomegranate, sea salt, chalk, and lime rind flavors make it go down way too quickly... 11.2% abv. Purchased $23. Good/Very Good

Ben's Blush: 2012 Arnot-Roberts Rosé

Having a young child can make dining out an infrequent occurrence. Just getting out the door can be a battle in its own right. Though Ben is usually well behaved and a great eater at restaurants, there is always a chance of a tantrum and we have to bring something to keep him occupied while we wait for the food to arrive. A few days ago, we decided to go to The Wooden Table on the spur of the moment. We asked Ben if he wanted to put some "fancy" clothes on to go out. He eagerly replied that he wanted to wear his dress. Well, his dress is just a tie-died adult t-shirt that my wife made for him, but still probably not the most appropriate attire for fine dining. We gently redirected his fashion instincts towards wearing his Bruce Wayne bow tie. After the brief battle, we set out for a very nice evening at the restaurant with out dapper little gentleman.

However, we felt a little bad that he really wanted to wear his dress at a fancy dinner. So, the next night we brought the restaurant experience home. I printed up a menu with a variety of choices for Ben to choose. I acted as the waiter and took his order (I was also the chef and made a pretty tasty butternut squash and pumpkin sausage risotto). Dinner was served over three separate courses. And, best of all, Ben got to wear his fancy dress (and some impressive Frozen slippers). Mom and Dad shared a bottle of Arnot-Roberts Rosé.

Ben's Blush: Kessler-Haak

Three-year olds don't miss much. The other day someone asked Ben how old he was, and he told them he was three and a half. I quietly interjected that it is a good thing he doesn't know fractions because he is really three and three-quarters. Well, since that moment Ben's new answer to a question about his age is of course, "I'm three and three-quarters!"

I guess the time when your child is right around his or her fourth birthday is when you start looking for pre-kindergarten. We were lucky to not have to think much about what Ben did for daycare, as my wife's school has excellent employee daycare on site. However, pre-k is a different story. The process for Ben to stay at this school is quite involved. We have to write a parent statement, get a teacher recommendation, have a parent interview, and Ben had to attend an assessed playdate. The school is great and the convenience of Ben going to school with his mom makes it that much more attractive of an option.

To do our due diligence, we also are looking at the neighbor elementary school just a few blocks from our home. Information about the program and registration process has been harder to come by. Last night, we attended the open house at the school. Rather than a structured program where administrators and teachers explain things, we just kind of walked around getting a feel for the school and the pre-k room. We did get a chance to speak with the lead pre-k teacher (but who will be retiring at year's end) about the program. It definitely is less structured and rigorous than the private school option, but both seemed relatively similar.

We haven't decided where he is going to go next year. We will have to wait to hear if Ben even gets admitted to mom's school. Maybe the decision will be made for us! Either way, it will be fun to watch Ben continue growing up and expanding his world.

Ben's Blush: Epoch Estate Wines

After being gone for a whole week, it was nice to be home. Ben was very excited to see me, and his mom was very happy to not have 100% of his attention solely directed at her! It was a beautiful week in Colorado; we even had a happy hour/picnic in the park the other day. Ben spent most of the time chasing after the bigger kids that showed up. Unfortunately, they were not as interested in him, but he did expend a fair bit of energy constantly chasing them. Yesterday, we got about 6 inches of snow, but the forecast looks like we should be back in the 50s and 60s by the weekend!

This week was also a bit rough. As you might know, I grew up in Wisconsin and am thus a Green Bay Packers fan. Though I did not have high expectations for the outcome of the NFC Championship game, I was hopeful things would go their way. Ben and I watched the first half of the game, but the bored little guy abandoned me after halftime. I kept giving him updates and he high-fived me when with only a few minutes left in the game the Packers seemed to have an insurmountable lead. Yeah, well, we all know how that turned out. I guess that is kind of like wine in some ways; you get all excited about experiencing something great only to be let down.

At some point during the AFC Championship game (Cheaters vs. Colts), Ben shouted, "Dad, the Packers are winning!" I dejectedly responded to him, "No, bud the Packers already lost." He then apologetically looked at me and said quiet empathetically, "I know, but I was just trying to make you feel better." Things like that are why kids are so amazing. Notwithstanding my son's compassion, such an epic loss deserved an Epoch wine...

Ben's Blush: Domaine de Nizas

Well, the weekly rosé review lasted all of one week. To be fair, we actually did drink a bottle of rosé two weeks ago, but I just was too lazy busy to write it up. Last week I was in Grand Junction, CO for the annual viticulture and enology conference: VinCO. It is great that the Colorado Association for Viticulture and Enology puts together a program that runs the gamut of marketing, winemaking, grape growing, and directed tasting seminars for the Colorado wine industry. I co-led a tasting of syrah from around the world that seemed to go over well. I also tasted some very nice wines from Maryland, Virginia, Washington, and of course Colorado.

Traveling and being away from home has both its advantages and disadvantages. Sleeping in a King-size bed by yourself can be quite relaxing, but it is more fun to be woken up by a little boy who dressed himself and says, "Look at my awesome outfit!" I didn't have to go the whole week without seeing Ben; the iPhone is a modern miracle! I can't imagine traveling before the days of Skype and Facetime. It is such a luxury to be able to see and talk to you children from afar. I know that Ben enjoys being able to talk with his grandparents and great grandparents via Facetime. I guess it kind of is like being Back to the Future (without the firing). I don't travel too often, but when I do it is nice to be close digitally.

2013 Domaine de Nizas

Domaine de Nizas 2013 Rosé

To catch up from the missing week, I will be posting two blush reviews this week (this week's tomorrow). The wine from the week before last hails from the Languedoc region of Southeast France. I don't know why, but for some reason every time I look at the label I think it is from Greece. Notwithstanding what my brain keeps insisting, this French wine is a blend of 40% syrah, 40% grenache noir, and 20% mourvèdre, which is quite typical for Languedoc rosés. It is a beautiful poppy pink color. Flowers and strawberries are the most noticeable aromas. It is a bit more structured than the delicate nose would suggest. Red fruit flavors are complemented by spicy hints of anise. Overall, the wine was pretty average and did nothing to excite me, but was still a nice wine. 14% abv. Sample $17. Average

Ben's Blush: J Vineyards & Winery Brut Rosé

A little less than four years ago, I started a weekly review of a sparkling wine to celebrate the birth our son, Ben. I called the regular feature Ben's Bubbly. Both my wife and I enjoyed regularly drinking a bottle of bubbly; it is something that is too often restricted to only celebratory occasions a few times a year. Sparkling wine is something that should be enjoyed much more often. Plus, the weekly review provided easy material for this blog.

Well, it has been several years since I concluded the series (a tasty blanc de blancs from Doyard) and my wife and I miss the weekly exploration of a specific, and under-appreciated style of wine. So, today I announce Ben's Blush. Pink wine is the red-headed step child of the wine world. It is often dismissed as sweet and uninteresting, and relegated to being openly consumed for a only few short weeks in the spring and summer. Sadly, rosé is ignorantly considered by many to be an inferior wine compared to its red and wine siblings. Rosé can be so many things and pair so well with different foods. It more diverse than many people think. So, for the next 52 weeks, I will open a bottle of something blush and report on it (along with a little update on Ben, as was the custom in the first series).