Why didn't I find this in June?
2007 Provenza "Chiaretto" rose, Lake Garda (Lombardy), Italy
Never have had this wine before, but I went nuts over it at a friend's home on Sunday. It's the best (pretty/flavorful/aromatic/balanced and with something a little more interesting than usual) rose I've had all summer. My friend has a source and before we said goodnight I'd already ordered a case ($10/bottle delivered). What makes it the best? Well, I went a-googling just now to find out what grapes it's made of and found that the wine I've stumbled over is a year in/year out favorite of wine writer Matt Kramer's. And in fact, I found his review of the 04 which is spot on for the 07 as well, so why don't I just let Matt tell the story?
"The summer search for the best rose of the season kicks off with what I must confess is my annual benchmark rose. Wine snoots may turn up their noses and shut down their palates when it comes to pink wines, but not in this column. A great rose is a summer joy.
This is a great rose. Really, it's one of the best that I know. And it's certainly unusual, at least in its grape composition.
Chiaretto is the local name around northern Italy's Lake Garda zone. One of that zone's best producers is the small family winery Provenza....Now, most roses are made from a single grape such as pinot noir, cabernet franc or grenache. In contrast, Chiaretto is a blend of four grapes -- and pretty strange ones (for rose, anyway) at that. This is a blend of two local red grapes, groppello and marzemino, along with two not-common-to-the-zone varieties, barbera and sangiovese. I dare say there's not another such rose like it anywhere in the world.... Delicately tinted...with an equally delicate fragrance of wild roses, strawberry and a whiff of red cherry. The acidity is just right...scent carries through to the flavor, extending with a surprisingly long finish that lingers on your palate long after you've swallowed the wine. For a rose, that's quite a feat...."