The Natura Rose’ 2014 is 85% Syrah and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from certified organic and sustainably farmed vineyards in the Rapel Valley inside Chile’s Central Valley growing area. Natura is one of Emiliana Organic Vineyards line of organic and bio-dynamic wines. Emiliana is a family owned winery and vineyards who went organic back in the 1990s, they were organic before organic was cool. Basically all wine was organic before the 1930s when modern pesticides and fertilizers were introduced. These advances fed the world, but didn’t do wine any favors (lower yields mean better grapes). This Rose’ was aged (3 months) and fermented in stainless steel vats. The alcohol content is 13.5% (bottle) or 12.1% (tech sheet), so flip a coin.
The color is bright pink with a pronounced apricot tint. The nose is apple, cherry, honeysuckle, watermelon and lemon. This is a very dry Rose’, with a solid, but balanced dose of acidity and a variety of delicate fruit flavors. It starts with flavor of hard cherry candy (but not candy sweet), blackberry, strawberry and raspberry lemonade The mid-palate brings in some black cherry and cream which adds a nice contrast to all the tart fruit upfront.. The flavors are tart, crisp and subtle. The finish is full and reasonably long.
There is a marketing campaign for Rose’ that says “Real men drink pink”. I never thought much of that strategy, because I always figured, “why wouldn’t a real man drink Rose'”. Rose’ is just a style of wine-making, who cares if the color is lighter than a full-bodied Red. In the heat of summer Craft beer drinkers gladly drink a lager or a lite beer, there are times when light, crisp and refreshing beats heavy and complicated. Wine is the same way, you can drink a Napa Cabernet or a robust Zinfandel outdoors on a 90 degree day, but a crisp, clean Rose’ is probably the better choice. Having a summer party on the patio and you want to serve a wine that appeals to both Red and White wine drinkers? It’s hard to do better than Rose’ and Natura Rose’ 2014 is delicious, refreshing, organic and very affordable.
