Rosés For Spring: Rosa Regale

Hey, is it rosé season already?  Maybe it creeps up on me because it's always rosé season at my place.  We are taking a couple of weeks to spotlight some worthy pink wines which will help get us in the swing for spring.

Italian wine brand Banfi resides in an 18th century winery purchased in 1979 by John and Harry Mariani.  That's where Rosa Regale Brachetto d'Acqui D.O.C.G. is made.  It's a sweet, sparkling wine made from the Brachetto grape.  The winery says it was cherished by the courts of Europe over two centuries ago, and  Banfi brought it back.

The Brachetto grapes were grown in the La Rosa Vineyard in the town of Acqui Terme, in the Piedmont region of Italy.  The label features a red rose, which is said to represent the wine's single-vineyard origin.  Two to three days maceration gives the 2016 wine its deep color and keeps the alcohol at a low, low 7% abv.  It sells for about $18.

The wine is a bit fizzy and colors up into a nice reddish brown plum color.  The nose offers red flowers and raspberries while the palate is sweet with strawberry, cherry and earth.  Rosa Regale has about half the alcohol of a typical wine, so it makes a great sipper for the porch or backyard.  Banfi suggests pairing it with prosciutto-wrapped dates.

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