Chill Well with this Rosé from Costco (via Provence)

Fast Facts:

• 2019 Kirkland Signature Côtes de Provence Rosé, Provence, France   ($9.99 @Costco in California – Item #1133993) 

For my tastes, the best rosés come from Provence. They are dry, they are restrained and they are totally refreshing. Problem is, they are expensive. It is rare to find one for under $10. Heck, it can be difficult to find one for under $20!

A couple of important caveats apply.  You can find cheaper ones that are not from the current vintage. But rosés are not built to be aged.  So if it doesn’t come from the most recent vintage (in the case of the northern hemisphere, that would be 2019) then proceed with caution. And if it comes from the southern hemisphere and it says 2018, understand that makes the wine six months older still.

The other important caveat is that the normal rules of the wine market don’t apply as uniformly when we are talking about wines from Costco. As the largest wine retailer in the world, Costco breaks all the rules that it can bend.  This means your wine dollar gets stretched, in a good way.

Their Kirkland Signature wines consistently “punch above their weight.” Here is another good example that we reviewed. And among these, their Kirkland Signature Côtes de Provence Rosé is among the most popular labels in this brand family.

Unfortunately, this particular bottling landed in the midst of a pandemic – one that drove an unprecedented number of Americans to stock their bunkers with TP and alcohol, both the kind you drink and the kind you sterilize with.

I was fortunate to find that my local Costco still had some in inventory. If you are equally lucky, stock up.  It won’t last long.  As we have tried to impress upon you, $9.99 is an unbeatable price for a wine this good.  Now you may be asking yourself: “is it 3X as good as the $3.33 rosé from Costco that was reviewed here a few weeks ago?”

Yep.

The back label informs us that the blend is 48% Grenache, 25% Cinsault, 11% Syrah, 9% Carignan, 4% Ugni Blanc and 3% Tibouren. If you thought Tibouren was a town in Northern California, you’re forgiven.

Tasting Notes:

In the glass, the wine pours a pale copper/salmon color.  (See below.) There are notes of roses, strawberries and red raspberries on the nose. In the mouth it’s all strawberry rhubarb pie and hints of the aforementioned fruits plus citrus and rosehips. It also has a bit of minerality and salinity that makes for nice palate cleansing.  Clean, crisp and dry – this is a wine that begs for summertime, when the living is easy!

Provence (Provençal) wine comes from the French wine-producing region of Provence in southeast France. It’s there in the blue shaded region below:

Wine as been made in this region for at least 2,600 years. Today the region is known predominantly for its rosé wines, which account for more than half of the production of Provençal wine, with red wine accounting for about a third of the region’s production. The Côtes de Provence (which translates to: the hills of Provence) is the largest AOC followed by the Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence.

If this missive finds the temperatures as hot where you are as it is here in SoCal, putting a good chill in this bottle of rosé and relaxing with a tall pour will be just the ticket to keeping your cool.

Cheers!