Rosé Revival Tasting © Kaishin Chu 2011
This last Monday I was the lucky winner of a pair of tickets to Liberty Merchant‘s Rosé Revival Tasting held at Bridges Restaurant on Granville Island, big thanks goes out to VancouverFoodster.com. Due to the last minute nature of winning tickets, I had the help of my friend, Annika of Social Bites, put the the word out to other foodies to find me a wine tasting partner. The first respondent was Vincci, and lucky for me, she has turned into a new friend with similar intersts and we even common acquaintances! Vancouver is a small world afterall! Ok. I got off on a tangent there… back to the event.
The event was held upstairs in the dining room of Bridges, which I had never been to before, and was pleasantly surprised to see how perfect of a venue it was for the event. Expansive 3 sided open views of False Creek, a classy darker decor dining room, where the views stand out even more so. That day the weather had cleared in time for the sun the come through as well. The Rosé Revival had a secondary motive, outside of showcasing tasty wines, it also was raising money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, which ties into the ‘pink’ theme perfectly. Liberty managed to raise $3862 at the event! awesome.
Lisa Simpson on behalf of the Breast Cancer foundation © Kaishin Chu 2011
Both Vincci and I were thoroughly impressed with the variety and sheer numbers of Rosés (43!) that we could taste, as well as the new blends and flavours that are now available, ones such as Malbec/Pinot Noir blends, or Merlot X blends. It was great to see growth of Rosés and it’s popularity, compared to when I tasted my first rosé just out of college with only a few to choose from, or so it seemed. In the last couple of years I’ve noticed rosé more and have fallen back in love with it, with the new introduction of drier rosé wines, including bubblies. We managed to taste probably 3/4 of the available wines, and were in a happy spot ;) The evening ended with a wonderful raffle draw to raise additional monies for the BC Breast Cancer Society, as well as a lovely rose coloured sunset to top it off. Unfortunately I didn’t win anything, but an old high school friend won the grand prize basket with lovely rose wines and liquor, congrats Judy (left)!!
image courtesty of © Liberty Wine Merchants Co.
My Fav’s from the event were:
Cedar Creek Rosé Pinot Noir 2010 (British Columbia) hints of strawberry, mellow yet light, sweetness 00
Villa Teresa Organic Rosé Frizzante (Italy) hints of strawberry and floral notes, sweetness 00
Elephant Island Pink Elephant 2009 (British Columbia) – one of my favorite wineries. An apple Cuvee with Cassis, a lovely, lovely, fruit wine that’s not made of grapes :) sweetness BRUT (dry)
Quails’ Gate Rosé 2009 (British Columbia) hints of raspberry yet earthy, tangy… making it more fruity or juicy as some would say. easy to drink… too easy maybe ;) sweetness 00
