I'm curious about the grapes used in this rosé. I don't think I've ever seen one with Zinfandel. Is there a reason those grapes were chosen?

neilfindswine wrote:...enjoyed a nice, cold bottle of this a week ago on a warm Sonoma afternoon... It's got spunk- zesty and bright with a touch of frizzante. ...Strawberries and spice...

It's rosé season kids. Have a glass with some summer picnic fare, wait 45 minutes and then jump in. The water's fine...

Was debating between one or two. Read this and going to jump in for 2. I've been waiting - patiently I might add - for a Rose. If its not great I'll open them as second bottles over the summer. It won't go to waste and there have been few wine woots I've actually been disappointed with.

grapenutz wrote:I'm curious about the grapes used in this rosé. I don't think I've ever seen one with Zinfandel. Is there a reason those grapes were chosen?

Its partly because those are the grapes available to us in our vineyard for a rose style wine, partly because Zinfandel grapes lend an interesting character for a rose when pressed. They tend to make a fresh, high toned, slightly spicy base and then blending various amounts of a true saigne from other components (Sangiovese, Tempranillo, Grenache...) to fill it out and hopefully make it complete.

It's so sad but true! Rose is definitely looked down upon in the US more so than any other country. France actually consumes more Rose than they do white wine!
The negative perception is largely due to the sweeter style Rose's that are commonplace in the US, as you've outlined with BumWine.com(Great website btw!)
That being said, it wasn't always this way, and there are some great dry, Provence-style Rose's being made in the US (like the Dayden!). If you want to know more about how and why the US started this sweeter trend check out Wikipedia's page on White Zinfandel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Zinfandel It turns out the very first sweeet Rose was an accident (stuck fermentation) that became a top selling wine in Ca.
Cheers!

blakewoot wrote:I was patiently waiting for rosé since two woot-offs ago, but finally just yesterday broke down and bought a mixed case of rosé from Astor Wines, my local wine shop here in Manhattan. So I think I will be passing on this.

That said, does anyone share my very slight snobbery about American rosé, vs. European? It seems to me that historically rosé was looked down upon in the US as the cheap dregs of the wine industry, and there is a lingering aftertaste of wino to much rosé in the US. In Europe it's just a normal part of the wine experience, and what one is most likely to drink with lunch in the summer.

In researching this hunch, I came across the wonderful site Bum Wine, complete with high-res pictures, history, and reviews of Thunderbird, Night Train, and Wild Irish Rose.

I'm not sure of the relationship between AS and PSC (Page Springs) but it appears that they are sister-companies. Tim can you compare/contrast this Dayden Dry Rose with Mules Mistake, another light patio-pounder from the land of the sun.

DeepPurple wrote:I'm not sure of the relationship between AS and PSC (Page Springs) but it appears that they are sister-companies. Tim can you compare/contrast this Dayden Dry Rose with Mules Mistake, another light patio-pounder from the land of the sun.

Sure.... Arizona Stronghold and Page Springs are technically sister wineries but we are completely seperate facilities and we have completely different staffing/managment, production, grape sources. And most importantly I make all of the wines for ASV and Eric Glomski makes all the wines for PSC. The ASV Dayden is quite different from the PSC Mules Mistake in that Dayden is a rose style and Mules is simply a light red. We make Dayden very much the same way we make our white wines at very low temperatures to retain freshness and acidity and Mules Mistake is made the typical way you would make a red wine being fermented at warm temperatures on the skins and punched down daily for several days. Both light bodied and acidic but very different approaches to how they were made.

vinodork wrote:It's so sad but true! Rose is definitely looked down upon in the US more so than any other country. France actually consumes more Rose than they do white wine!
The negative perception is largely due to the sweeter style Rose's that are commonplace in the US, as you've outlined with BumWine.com(Great website btw!)

This wine is also not made more appealing to me by the loud label and candy-red cough-syrup hue of the wine itself. The French Rosé I ended up buying in my impatience says "Domaine Tour Boisee AOC Minervois Rosé" on the bottle, whatever that means, which somehow seems more appealing than "Arizona Pink Table Wine."

Maybe I am just a snob, after all...

blakewoot wrote:This wine is also not made more appealing to me by the loud label and candy-red cough-syrup hue of the wine itself. The French Rosé I ended up buying in my impatience says "Domaine Tour Boisee AOC Minervois Rosé" on the bottle, whatever that means, which somehow seems more appealing than "Arizona Pink Table Wine."

Maybe I am just a snob, after all...

I think the picture of our bottles is quite vivid accentuating the color of the wine. The "Arizona Pink Table Wine" designation on our bottle is purely a TTB complience issue. All of our wines have to have either an "Arizona Table Wine" or "Arizona Wine" designation (depending on the alcohold content) with the color of that wine be it Red, White or Pink. Those are the rules we must play by.

greyday wrote:Same here. The Stronghold Mandala was surprisingly good, which puts me firmly on the fence, as I only know about the winemakers, not the grapes (the mandala was California grapes). Hmm...

Also, here's Maynard talking wine on Tim and Eric:

link

I definitely should've pointed out the previous Stronghold offers here were made with California grapes. A co-worker is a big Tool fan, so he bought both the red and white and we tried them at the office.

Wine from AZ is uncharted territory for me

Tim, as AS has some famous winemakers, can you talk about who has had input into this wine? Have Maynard or Eric worked on it, or is it purely your creation?

timstronghold wrote:I think the picture of our bottles is quite vivid accentuating the color of the wine

Do you mean to say the wine itself is not as bright red as the picture on the site?

I didn't mean to sound like I was criticizing the wine at all. If I hadn't just stocked up on rosé I would have bought this and most likely thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'm still boycotting Arizona companies due to that state's imigration stance and the fact that 75% of the residents are in favor of the new laws.

wordek wrote:I'm up for a split if you didn't already buy the whole thing for yourself?;-)

PM for you

msruru wrote:I'm still boycotting Arizona companies due to that state's imigration stance and the fact that 75% of the residents are in favor of the new laws.

Sad to say this is exactly my reason for not buying this offer. The stats were good, the responses were inviting. But, given a choice, I will chose to spend my money in a more hospitable state.

regentswift wrote:Tim, as AS has some famous winemakers, can you talk about who has had input into this wine? Have Maynard or Eric worked on it, or is it purely your creation?

Arizona Stronghold wines have always been crafted by me. Eric makes the wines at Page Springs Cellars and Maynard makes the wines at Caduceus. The only current exception to this is Maynard and I work on art design, wording on the backs of our labels and general direction on new wine concepts..... otherwise strictly in terms of making/crafting our wines that is me.

blakewoot wrote:Do you mean to say the wine itself is not as bright red as the picture on the site?

I didn't mean to sound like I was criticizing the wine at all. If I hadn't just stocked up on rosé I would have bought this and most likely thoroughly enjoyed it.

No problem at all. I think this wine has a bit less vivid red color than the picture.

I balked at stocking up on wine this morning, as we already have a rather copious amount at the moment. But since the deal was still up this evening, and we absolutely loved the Mandala White that was offered on woot previously...

...in for one!

So, I it has been 6 days and not even a shipping number. What is going on with the shipping? I ordered wine from Northern California and it arrived three days later. I live fours away in Tucson so this baffles me a little bit. Any information would be appreciated as I leave for a week to vacation in Flagstaff.

ThunderThighs wrote:Howdy. Wine.Woot wines will get to you in about 2-3 weeks, often sooner.

Here's the FAQ for more information:

How long is shipment going to take?
You should get your wine in 2-3 weeks, often sooner. We know the wait is kind of a drag. But it's still gonna taste good (maybe even better), and since we leave it to the wineries to get the wine to you, you can count on their experience to send their wine using their expert methodologies.

Cool, I read the order page from this sale and did not see anything about shipping, so that is why I asked. Did I just miss it, or is shipping information only in the FAQ?

Anyone else have a sediment that looks like a mix of dirt and sand in theirs? Every bottle I received has it.