Comparison Tasting: Three Rose wines from a “Take-Out” Rose Soiree Wine Dinner


Synopsis, Our Opinion: We thought the shrimp and salmon ceviche Rosé pairing was absolutely STELLAR, and we liked it best with the Gérard Bertrand Rosé. Our choice for the best quality and value wine, both with and without food, was the Miraval Rosé.

Producer/Winery:
Gérard Bertrand Cotes de Roses Rosé: Gerard Bertrand; Narbonne, France.
Miraval Rosé: Le Château Miraval; de Correns, France.
Kim Crawford New Zealand Rosé: Kim Crawford Wines; Marlborough, New Zealand.

Grape Variety:
Gérard Bertrand Cotes de Roses Rosé: Blend – Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah.
Miraval Rosé: Blend – Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah and Rolle.
Kim Crawford New Zealand Rosé: Rosé blend.

Geographic Appellation,, Region, Country:
Gérard Bertrand Cotes de Roses Rosé: Languedoc, France.
Miraval Rosé: Cotes de Provence, France.
Kim Crawford New Zealand Rosé: Hawke’s Bay; North Island, New Zealand.

Vintage: All 2018.

Price: (All 375ml botttles)
Gerard Bertrand Cotes de Roses Rosé: $10.00
Miraval Rosé: $15.00
Kim Crawford New Zealand Rosé: $9.00

Purchased From: The Undercurrent Restaurant; Greensboro, North Carolina.

Paired With: Rosé Soirée Menu (As presented by The Undercurrent restaurant).

    First Course: Curried shrimp and salmon ceviche with watermelon, cucumber, watermelon, apricot-guacamole, mint-coriander flatbread and heirloom pepper vinegar.
    Wine pairing: Gerard Bertrand Cotes de Roses Rosé

    Second course: Seared pepper flake-lime seared N.C. tuna nicoise salad with grilled french beans, soft boiled egg, riviera olives, roasted fingerlings, and lemon tarragon vinaigrette.
    Wine pairing: Miraval Rosé.

    Third course: Pan seared prosciutto-orange wrapped Joyce Farms chicken, strawberry-peppercorn gastrique, dried strawberry-thyme grits and almond-honey crumble.
    Wine pairing: Kim Crawford New Zealand Rosé.

Tasting:

    Note: With the Covid-19 virus restaurant restrictions the Undercurrent Restaurant in Greensboro, North Carolina has put together Virtual Wine dinners (See: Virtual Wine Dinner: Undercurrent Restaurant; Greensboro, North Carolina), a take-out Dominican Dinner Party and this take-out Rosé Soiree Wine Dinner served with three different 375ml bottles of Rosé per person. We made one exception to the wine pairing listed on the menu by tasting each of the three wines with each course to see how well they paired and which we liked best. Following is a review of the three wines.

    Gérard Bertrand Cotes de Roses Rosé: Chilled before drinking. Clear, pale salmon color. Very lite whiffs of raspberry and jasmine aromas. Smooth, dusty limestone mineral and maybe a little off dry mouthfeel, light to medium body and a 200-grit texture. Mild cherry, watermelon and pastry flavors, crisp acidity and a long cherry and mineral finish. Excellent paired with the shrimp and salmon ceviche where the strong flavors of the food dovetailed perfectly with the mineral and subdued fruit flavors in the wine. We expected more fragrance, but as the wine warmed it was not such a glaring omission and we were quite positive about both the pairing and the wine.

    Miraval Rosé: Chilled before drinking. Clear, dark salmon color with an orange tint. Traditional and pronounced Rosé aromas of strawberry, watermelon, damp earth and a touch of lavender. Smooth entry, fresh dry mouthfeel, light to medium body and a 200-grit texture. Strong strawberry, watermelon, ripe melon and just squeezed lemon flavors. Spring-time fresh crisp acidity and a long earthy and savory fruit finish. We were pleasantly surprised this wine had such traditional Provincial Rosé character. It paired well with the food and was a stand-out winner when sipping without food. After the first few sips we both immediately commented that this was a good value wine in spite of the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie winery co-ownership with the Perrin family of the Château de Beaucastel fame.

    Kim Crawford New Zealand Rosé: Chilled before drinking. Clear, dark salmon color. Brawny red fruit, watermelon, citrus and damp earth aromas. Strong and juicy mouthfeel, medium body and an 100-grit texture. Robust flavors of ripe berries, watermelon, California grapefruit and lemon zest. Crisp acidity and a long grapefruit dominated finish. From the first whiffs this was impetuous and a more fruit flavored Rosé, and when paired with food seemed pretty good; however, it quickly became just a bold Rosé and lost much of its allure. The flavors were very different from traditional Rosé and it was not the crisp, refreshing wine we expected. We called it “New World” BOLD!!!

    All three courses of the dinner were OUTSTANDING and when paired with Rosé wine it became a MEMORABLE dinner…The Undercurrent Restaurant really has STELLAR “take-out”!!! However, the telling part of drinking three wines side-by-side like this is that you ALWAYS can easily identify the one you like best. We thought the shrimp and salmon ceviche paired with Rosé was absolutely STELLAR, and we liked it best with the Gérard Bertrand Rosé. Our choice for the best quality and value of the three wines, both with and without food, was without question the Miraval Rosé.

Comments: Learn more about Gérard Bertrand; Miraval and Kim Crawford.
Also see our reviews of other Gérard Bertrand and Kim Crawford wines and The Undercurrent Restaurant.

Gérard Bertrand vineyard in Languedoc, France
Grenache grapes growing at the Chateau Miraval vineyard
Kim Crawford Hawk’s Bay vineyard in New Zealand

Photos from Gérard Bertrand, Miraval and Kim Crawford Wines.

Alcohol Content: All 13%

Closure:

UPC Code:
Gérard Bertrand Cotes de Roses Rosé: 8 12147 02098 4
Miraval Rosé: 0 89419 24214 0
Kim Crawford New Zealand Rosé: 6 89352 01001 3

Imported by:
Gérard Bertrand Cotes de Roses Rosé: USA Wine West; Sausalito, California.
Miraval Rosé: Vineyard Brands; Birmingham, Alabama.
Kim Crawford New Zealand Rosé: Constellation Imports; Ruterford, California.