Bear with me. It’s been a while.
When did I drink this wine? I’m not entirely sure how long ago that was. But that’s why we take notes. Well, at least, that’s why I take notes. So that I can resurrect a months-dead wine blog for one, single, solitary return post: a review of a mediocre rose you can get at your local Safeway for something in the neighborhood of twelve bucks.
Toes. Dipping. Shallow end. Et cetera.
The funny thing is, this is a pretty good wine. Yes it’s from Coppola, who regularly disappoints me like my friend Mike disappoints his dad because he only got in to Brown—expectations, such as they are, can be unreasonable—yes, this is a rose, far too commonly screwed up in my opinion; and yes, this is marked with the region “California,” which screeches loudly the kind of geographic unspecificity that usually has me running for the hills, or the nearest bottle of Thunderbird (at least it’s honest).
But no, seriously. Not bad. A good summer sipper, for sure. Nothing here is mind-blowing. Nothing here is revolutionary. Nothing here is spectacular. But what you do get is a pretty solid barbecue or summer dinner wine for less than three Lincolns. The wine is 96% moscato, 4% alicante bouschet.
So what’s it like? The 2010 Coppola Moscato is very light in the glass. The core is a light pink, while the edges are damn near clear. Some roses will hover in a dark pink, or even a salmon type color range, but not the Coppola. On the nose, you’re treated to some fairly righteous rose petal, strawberry, and pink grapefruit notes. All bright and cheery, though the rose petal—while pretty—is a touch too sickly to be perfect.
The wine is very light bodied, and has a clean finish. Dominant notes on the palate are strawberry, peach, and the slightest hint of raspberry. Quite good, though nothing you’ll probably remember outright.
If you’re hosting a barbecue this summer with a bunch of winos, you could do a helluva lot worse than this wine, especially at the price point.
Verdict: 83/100
Price Point: $12