Sterling Rose Wine Review
Sterling Rose comes from the Sterling Winery in California, USA.
Fruit was sourced from multiple “select” vineyards, mostly in the Edna Valley area of the Central Coast of California.
Sterling Rose is a blend of Syrah, Tempranillo and Zinfandel, with the fruit being picked in the cool hours of the early morning at harvest time.
Sterling Rose Review
From the bottle:
Sip our Rose with light fare and friends, and savor the aromas of strawberry, cherry and watermelon accented by notes of lime blossom.
According to Sterling, the 2016 growing season had an early harvest with normal yields and exceptional quality.
Sample of 2016 Sterling Vintner’s Collection Rose received for review purposes.
For more info about the winery check out the Sterling Vineyards website.
Appearance
This wine has a lovely rose color to it, though it’s a bit darker than other Roses I’ve had recently.
It also has just the slightest hint of that iPhone rose gold color to it.
It coats up the glass well, with well-spaced legs that fall fairly quickly down the sides of the glass.
Aroma
I found the aroma to be enjoyable with a little bit of candy, plus honeysuckle and over-ripe strawberries on the nose.
It’s not overly aromatic. You do need to get up pretty close to get a decent whiff.
There’s just a little bit of alcohol burn in the nose.
Sterling Rose alcohol content 13.5% by volume, per the bottle.
Taste
The first thing I said when I tasted this wine was “Zingy.”
Its bright and youthful acidity definitely hits you first.
The tasting notes I received suggested flavors of “pink citrus, jasmine tea and orange blossom.” I agree with the jasmine tea and the orange blossom. That’s definitely in there. I’m not so sure about the pink citrus. When I hear pink citrus, I think of pink grapefruit. I didn’t notice that, however, that might be a good way to describe the “feeling” of the wine’s acidity in your mouth.
Not bad.
Mouthfeel and Tannins
There does seem to be some younger tannins in this wine, emphasizing the texture you would get in your mouth when drinking the aforementioned jasmine tea.
They start to take your palate to a bitter place, but back off before becoming outright bitter.
I’m actually a little surprised I’m talking this much about tannins with a Rose wine. But, given the darkness in color I mentioned above, the grape skins may have more “skin in the game” ;-) than usual for this type of wine.
Finish
Sterling Rose’s finish is medium in length and well-balanced between the flavor and the tannins.
Overall Opinion
Overall, I enjoyed this wine but can’t rave about it.
The tasting notes indicated a richness I was supposed to discover, however, it wasn’t there. It does develop a little bit after the wine has been in the glass for awhile.
They also suggested this wine should be “enjoyed in its youth” however that “youth” started to take the tannins down a bad path, in my opinion.
One thing I would suggest is to serve this wine slightly chilled. I found that once the wine warmed up to room temperature, it lost the crispness that a cool fresh Rose can bring to the table.
Sterling Rose price $14.00.
Suggested Food Pairing
The tasting notes suggest pairing this wine with fresh oysters, scallops, grilled chicken or charcuterie.
Go with the oysters or scallops and let this wine’s zingy acidity do its thing!
