Allendorf Rose Secco

I think a well stocked liquor store's bargain bin may be the greatest place to find new discoveries. We were at Liquor Mart in Boulder yesterday and there lurking amongst all the declassified KJ juice was a pink bottle having its cork tied on with a piece of string. I saw none of this kitchy marketing but rather thanks to the clear bottle, I saw the tell tale pinky orange color of Pinot Noir as a rose.
For a 10 spot I grabbed it and today as I fade away from wrestling over the hood's missing control panel, getting Xcel to turn the gas on, and a mtn bike ride with the boy I grabbed it from the fridge and said "why not, why not indeed". While the smell of a ragu (lasagna bolognese) came from the kitchen, I went out by the river with Rio, set up the sprinkler and opened this cutie. The Moscato style mushroom cork got me hoping there was a little spritzig to keep inside and sure enough it did have some carbonation - about a Vinho Verde level of bubbly.

The secco had me hoping we weren't going to be too sweet and it was indeed a clean tasting wine. At 11% there's not a lot of RS (residual sugar) left although I bet they did chaptalize (add sugar) a bit since they can at this quality level. But the sweet that hits quick is washed away by the acid and the bubbles leaving a tart cherry finish. Little touches of ripe strawberry and raspberry hang around, I'm now hoping Maggie doesn't see the open bottle because I might just drink the whole thing before the lasagna come out and I switch to a Salice.

All in all a nice summer sipper, or a great wine to turn a white zin drinker into a spatburgunder fiend. I've tried to resist the hype that surrounds Pinot Noir but what a remarkably fun grape, especially when its not cooked into stewed prunes in California.