July 11, 2007

Wine News: Sales Of Rose Wine Blooming

Wine merchant Randy Kemner is tickled pink about rose.
Sales of blush vintages at his Wine Country store in Signal Hill are running 43 percent ahead of last year.

Thanks go to customers such as Tom Reep, 52, of Long Beach, who are starting to buy dry rose after tiring of a longtime summer standby, Chardonnay.

"We were looking for something to drink outside on our patio or when we had something on the grill," said the retired information technology executive as he bought a bottle of Chateau Martinette rose from southeast France for $12.99. "Rose is so food-friendly. It goes with everything."

New drinkers are also catching on to the wine, typically made from juice squeezed from red grapes. Nina Flores, 26, said her first taste of wine was of a pink - the sweeter and ubiquitous white Zinfandel that seemingly every California winery makes. As her imbibing expanded, she started to sample crisp whites and bigger reds.

Full article here.