I know I’ve been a bit heavy handed on the rosé this summer, but it’s just SO drinkable.  And it feels festive, like bubbles, festive in a “I feel fancy but not really celebrating anything” sort of way.  

I recently visited my friend Kate up at her lake house in the Adirondacks and brought along this Vinho Verde Rosé from Casal Ventozela.  The wine was really hard to focus on with that view!  But it was the perfect lake-side sipper after a day in the sun.  The wine was 100% Espadeiro, a grape varietal native to the Minho province region in the northern part of Portugal.  

Just to clarify, Vinho Verde is a style of wine, it can be red, white or rosé, and literally translates to “young wine”.  It is meant to be consumed within a year of bottling.  It can often have a slight effervescence, which originally came from malolactic fermentation taking place in the bottle.  Most winemakers today complete malolactic fermentation prior to bottling then add artificial carbonation to retain that sparkly characteristic consumers have come to love.  

This wine in particular was super light and very fruity.  Hints of strawberries and raspberries with a nice underlying minerality.  It was perfect on its own, and I imagine it’d be good with a cheese plate, but not something I would want to compete with a meal.

I couldn’t help but post a few more pics from the weekend, such a dream, thanks Kate for a beautiful weekend filled with great food and great friends!