Rosé

The wine

The smell and the sip are not the same glass. Citrus zest is all that comes off the top: peel, bright, and clear of the red fruit. Strawberry and red currant wait until the wine is in the mouth, with citrus still there but no longer the only note. This still Loire rosé keeps those two moments separate.

The middle is crisp and light-bodied. Bright acidity runs under soft red fruit and gives it a line. The fruit stays soft, which is the texture the acid has to hold. The body stays light the whole way through. The crispness is how that light body feels: a clean cut through the fruit, not another flavor.

Sweetness is saved for the end. The finish is clean and slightly sweet, a step past the sip rather than a new flavor. The red fruit does not hang on. The pleasure is the sorting: zest, then soft red fruit, then a tidy sweet edge. Bright acidity is the note that keeps showing up, under the soft fruit and still there when the finish turns slightly sweet. The limit is that the nose never catches up to the fruit in the glass. You smell peel. You taste the rosé.