Espiral Vinho verde’s blush sibling
I know, I know, summer is over. It really is. It is dreary out there, raining and cold. But I found this rosé or blush wine two weeks ago at Trader Joe’s (yeah, right, why do they only start carrying this one now, when it gets colder?) and had to give it a try.
I am huge fan of its sibling Espiral Vinho verde, so it seemed natural to give this one a try. Just as the vinho verde, vinho rosé is meant to be a young, fresh, slightly bubbly drink, uncomplicated and fun. For more info on these young wines from Portugal check out my vinho verde post mentioned above.
This non-vintage wine has 10% ABV and I paid about $5 for it at Trader Joe’s.
The color is intriguing, a rather bright, slightly darker pinkish red. On the nose, I immediately got bubble gum, then strawberry and melons. Except for the bubble gum, it smelled like fun. On the palate, there was lots of strawberry, a certain creaminess to the wine, and it had a nicely lively acidity. It had some hints of bubbles, but had clearly settled, and at some point the wine reminded me of the Espiral vinho verde with its pear and apple notes. It was definitely a nice, easy to drink wine and I am looking forward to having more of it next summer…because, while it brought back memories of summer, it was definitely not a season appropriate rosé (which in fact exist!).
the winegetter 
[…] solid work – and this wine has been around awhile, it appears; check out this blog from 2012: The Winegetter. And they also do the Vinho Verde thing – which has to happen because, well, […]
Just tried the rose. It was good. Spring has arrived in DC, and this was our first “summery” wine of the season.
Lucky you! We’re getting there, slowly but surely. Make sure you try the white vinho verde, too. I think it is better than this one. Thanks for stopping by!
Sounds like a nice one! I like to get all bundled up in front of the fire, and then drink a chilled wine or rose. Who cares that it isn’t summer! I’ll have to check out TJs and see if it is there…
A bit of summer in the glass when it’s getting colder. Definitely a nice idea…now I wish we had a fireplace…:)
I hope you can find it at your TJ!
Well then, not having a fireplace would make it harder…
It is a matter of attitude, I believe…and I can pull that off. :)
recently I had Portuguese rose for the first time. CASA DE SANTA VITÓRIA ROSÉ 2011
it was interesting, fresh and very berry.:0)
Hmmm….haven’t heard of that one. I just love Portuguese wines. A friend of mine is from Porto, and her father owns a winery…visiting was awesome.
Thanks for stopping by!
We are lucky to see ‘regular’ VV in this Wine-forsaken state. I’ve been wanting to try a rosé for some time now, but have yet to come across one!
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you!
We’ll have 70’s and slow 80’s this week; so we’re still in to “summer” as I know summer. Next summer–will you have stocked up on this? How will you store it and will it keep well enough to enjoy next year? (At $5, anything that is drinkable is a pretty good deal, I think).
Nah, I am not stocking up on it now. I doubt the wine would retain its freshness. I am just hoping they will carry it a bit earlier next year.
Bubble gum huh? I am intrigued :) I am a big Vihno Verde fan here and was able to bring it into our store. Luckily it has been very successful but as our summer begins to fade [any day now hopefully] we’re still hitting close to 90 on a daily basis, I am questioning stocking this item into our South Florida winter season which of course isn’t all that wintery. My fork in the road…
Thank you.
I always forget that there is a more pleasant weather to be had for longer than in the Midwest…:) The bubble gum was definitely a bit disturbing, but the strawberry flavors were strong enough to overcome it. I bet you can easily sell vinho verde throughout the winter with temperatures like that…