Autumn mohr

8.9

A rosé I would drink again and again. It really is as soft, supple and smooth as a baby’s bottom. Like raspberry sun kisses. — 6 years ago

Jeff Fennel

9.3

National Rosé Day — 6 years ago

with Mary

Stephen Redenbaugh

9.5

July 2016 disgorgement. Bright clean notes of rhubarb and wild strawberry with sweet biscuits. Amazing focused mousse and lingering finish. Complexity keeps drawing you back and the aroma keeps morphing into something new. I am almost speechless but honored to pour this for my guests for New Years Day. — 6 years ago

Ron R

10

Wonderful day. Excellent bubbles. Congratulations to Jenny and James! 🥂🍾 — 7 years ago

with Jennifer, James and 1 other

Lauren Schlander

9.1

Love this Rose, especially on a hot day. Tastes of berries with a clean and crisp finish Very affordable but does not taste cheap. — 7 years ago

Sara Hurst

10

Great Rose'...Not sweet at all, more on the dry side but still super flavorful! Found at Total Wine with the recommendation of a staff member. So glad I got it, since I typically don't like Rose' but this was fabulous! — 8 years ago

Jonas Johansson

9.0

The IPA every body is ok drinking from the bud drinker to the pine lover. Yeah it is perfect for the fishing trip to the slow roasting bbq. — 8 years ago

Kelly Hulme

9.0

Classic Provence style: refreshing, equal doses of minerality and tart/ripe fruit, all in balance. 2014 not a departure in style (besides some added length!), a visit with an old friend. — 9 years ago

Max Murrey

9.4

Beautiful pale salmon color.

Strong strawberry shortcake and cherry nose.

All sorts of red fruit on the palate.
I get some rose stems on the back end with a savory/ strawberry finish that goes and goes and goes — 9 years ago

Rory Stamp

9.4

All day every day Gris de Gris — 10 years ago

Rafael Landestoy

9.0

Nothing better than rose on a hot summers day! — 11 years ago

Joe Gillies

9.3

Perfect for summer beach day! Well balanced and easy drinking. — 6 years ago

Sky Morrar

9.7

White flowers and blood orange on the nose. Wet stone, cherry, rhubarb on the palette with a spiced finish that lingers. I could drink this all day long! — 6 years ago

Lindsay Christians

9.5

Fresh cherry, nice acid. Good sparkles for a weeknight, made a bad day better. 2012 vintage. — 7 years ago

Jennifer Vascotto

9.0

I'm a sucker for all bonny Doon. Lovely white peach nose with a touch of slate and wet asphalt. Bright crisp light body with a short finish. Hay, peach, briny, grapefruit. — 7 years ago

Mark Geylikman

9.5

The best or 2nd best rose of the vintage for me. Incredible concentration of fruit, beautiful lemon mango pineapple strawberry backbone, great minerality , mouthfeel. Just a slam dunk all around. — 7 years ago

Amanda Young

9.0

It was a wonderful day! ❤ — 7 years ago

Nicole Berge

8.9

Faint peachy tint and a crisp, bubbly texture, tasting it first as leftovers from the day before
Reminds me of honey crisp apples
Well-balanced mouthfeel
Perfect for a warm day like this, real nice :) — 8 years ago

Mark Lindzy

8.9

A light and refreshing rosé to shake off the work day. — 9 years ago

Elizabeth Cenicola

9.0

Loved it. Nice and light. Perfect for a warm day. — 9 years ago

Mike Willison

10

Best rosé of 2013. Also, not expensive at all. — 10 years ago

John Trinidad

Wine Blogger SFWineBlog

8.9

Rosé all damn day — 10 years ago

with Anthony

Sara Youngbar Boynton

9.6

All of my odd tastes merge into 1 bottle — 11 years ago

Mason Balistreri

Sommelier, International Wine Guild; Balistreri Vineyard; Sales, Joy Wine and Spirits

9.6

It might shock you, but my favorite rosé is not French but instead comes from California! Blasphemy, I know - but Bedrock's Ode to Lulu is just that good. The difficulty is actually finding a bottle. For the last three years, I've only been allocated a case (or less) to sell here in Denver. It's possible you are one of the select few I've actually told about this wine... If not, now is your chance. This is the first year there's an "okay" supply. It won't last, but you should be able to get a bottle.

So yes, it's not French but it's made in the same style and method of Tempier Bandol Rosé- the most sought after, cult rosé out there. The name "Ode to Lulu" is actually an homage to the 4.5 foot tall, 101 year old woman named "Lulu" Peyraud (born Lucie Tempier) whose father gifted the Mourvedre heavy estate to her and her husband Lucien Peyraud. The wines they would go on to produce from the 1940's onward quite literally defined Bandol and put it on the map as some of the best rosés out there. She's still alive and presumably drinking plenty of wine.

This California-born "Ode to Lulu" is modeled after the great Tempier, but has some unique properties compared to it's French namesake. For one, the vines are EXTREMELY old. Tempier defined itself by focusing on old Mourvèdre and Grenache plantings, but even these French vineyards cannot compare to what Bedrock is working with in California. If you don't know, Bedrock is the winery of Morgon Twain Peterson, son of legendary Ravenswood founder Joel Peterson. Morgon grew up making wine and through his father has cultivated relationships with some of the most important heritage vineyards in California. The "Ode to Lulu" is made from Mourvèdre and Grenache planted as far back as 1888! These are some of the oldest plantings of these grapes around and make for unbelievable wines. Tempier's average vine age is around 40 years old today. Bedrock's is over 3x as old. Insane.

Morgon may be young, but he has a life time of winemaking experience. He started making wine with his father when he was 5 years old and hasn't stopped yet. In addition to absorbing his father's knowledge on heritage vineyards, he is a real student in the world of wine, earning a "Masters of Wine" designation (this industry's highest achievement). I've been drinking his wine for several years and I can say that his wine is made extremely thoughtfully and with expert attention to detail. This is true even with a wine as humble as rosé.

Unlike most California pink wine, Bedrock is not produced by "bleeding off" juice from a red wine. Instead, the grapes are picked early and separately at very low potential alcohols, and whole cluster pressed with low extraction. This preserves the freshness and acidity, creating a wine of clarity. In an old blog post I dug up, Morgon explains this idea:

"I pick at potential alcohols lower on the scale where brightness and lift still exist. This is not to say that fruit does not matter—I use Mourvedre from a block planted over 120 years ago for requisite concentration of complexity of flavor—but like fine champagne, the wonders of rosé lie in its unbearable lightness of being."

I agree with this idea of rosé and I think most people instinctively do as well. It's no coincidence that our best selling bottles come from provence. However, I urge you to pick up at least one bottle of this Ode to Lulu. It's a wine that's close in spirit to the best French rosé but made from vineyards that are American and unrivaled in age.

This is the fourth vintage of Ode to Lulu I've tasted, and I would say that's the most elegant yet. The 2015 was maybe my favorite for it's depth and I picked a few up to age, drinking my last bottle recently... This new vintage is great now, but it will reward with a short cellaring time. Honestly, if you can hide 2 bottles and drink them before fall or into next year, you will be blown away. Bandol rosé is a wine that improves dramatically over the course of 6 months to several years (Tempier Rosé is known to go decades). This bedrock is no different.

I can personally attest to past vintages gaining depth with time. How is this possible? Unlike other rosé which should be drank young, Bandol and Ode to Lulu are made of Mourvedre, a grape that is naturally reductive and resistant to oxidation. Further, the acidity is high and alcohol low. As the acidity starts to fall away, a depth and richness of character will emerge. In fruitier/riper rosé with more alcohol, this richness becomes too sweet and cloying... Not the case here. This keep balanced through time, gaining complexity while remaining refreshing. 

You should buy this wine. However, I think there is one more important facet to rosé that I should mention before you do... Rosé is not always about what's in the glass itself. Rosé is really an ethereal thing... It's more so an "essence" of terroir and vintage rather than a sturdy, hard representation like red wine is... Sorry if that doesn't make sense but what I'm trying to say is that sometimes rosé is more about the place and the people you enjoy it with than the exact flavors themselves. Of course, we cannot all visit the picturesque village of Bandol to visit Lulu Peyraud; but I think, with this sunny Colorado weather, we can come close. Perhaps Morgon said it better than I can:

"Proper rosé is refreshing, life-nourishing stuff that revives the soul... I drink as much for pure pleasure as for intellectual stimulation. In the warmer months there is something sacred about a late afternoon meal of cold chicken, fresh garden tomatoes, and rosé. It is one body in the sacred trilogy of rustic simplicity." - Morgon Twain Peterson

#rose #oldvine #lulu #tempier #bedrockwineco — 6 years ago

James Webb

9.0

Where did all the grapefruit go? There's more minerality in this vintage and less fruit. The nose is more herbaceous, all spice, crushed wet flowers, some white fruit. The attack and mid is dense. Acid isn't excessive and the wine is well balanced. Good wine and a fantastic Rosé but sadly a let down Vs the previous vintages. — 7 years ago

Emily Kresie-Harrington

9.2

2015 vintage. Super solid, as usual. Tart strawberry, watermelon (especially the part near the rind), rosewater lokoum, white flowers, white rocks, lemon peel. Especially welcomed after busting ass all day on a busy Mother's Day weekend. — 8 years ago

Roger Cabrera

9.3

So much character, yet so delicate and refined. The addition of red fruit really adds dimension. And while the acidity is still incredibly racy, the careful balance of fruit tames it so as not to take center stage all the time. — 9 years ago

Michelle McManus

10

Perfect for rosé all day, with family and friends! No better way to celebrate the holidays. Love the story and the label! — 9 years ago

with Laura

Joseph Moss

9.3

Gamay all day, every day! With some aging on it. Good to drink, still good to keep. — 10 years ago

Marc Stubblefield

Wine Sales at Vino Carta and Kogod Wine Merchant

8.9

True, maybe a little softer compared to recent vintages, but still... This bottle lasted all of 20 minutes. Yum. — 10 years ago