Go check out winesearcher.com. It's a good way to track down wines you can't find locally.

Franciscan had a lovely rose last summer - I ended up picking up a case and its been lovely with some of my warm weather favorites.

45 years ago, a very junior Navy officer on my first Med deployment, I was introduced to Rose, the sort consumed by the barrel along France's Mediterranean coast, dry, refreshing and affordable in price, the choice for sidewalk cafes, hillside picnics, and afternoon grappling and threshing in seaside hotel rooms.

Then came the long era of "Rose" defined as often nasty cloyingly sweet bottlings for folks of no tastebuds and less taste.

How pleasnt it is to see that there are those for whom real Rose remains a classic favorite, the best choice for many venues.

Hmmm... I'm thinking fondly about that one venue you mentioned.... the "afternoon grappling and threshing in seaside hotel rooms." :D

Mc Dowell Vineyards “Grenache Noir” Rose of Petite Syrah, Mendocino County…^^

They have been making this wine up in Hopland for years, great stuff!

http://www.mcdowellsyrah.com/mcdowell/index.jsp

Miner in Napa makes a Sangiovese rose that retails for like $15 that is pretty good.

And their wild yeast whites are a real treat too.

Amisfield Rose is far and away my favorite. It's a 100% Pinot Noir saigneé and is my absolute favorite wine with wild salmon. Can't get it outside NZ at a wine shop but they will ship cases direct to US/UK/AU through a broker. Will have to wait, though, as 2007 is sold out and 2008 hasn't been released.

Not cheap at NZ$25/btl + NZ$270/case air freight/customs broker charges to the US, but I'm ordering another case of it next year so here's one person who thinks it's worth it.

Always the strawberry rose!

And I thought the same thing when I saw the thread title :D

I always stick with the Spanish rosados--you get that great mineral edge in a lot of them, like licking a limestone boulder! And they're usually cheaper than French rosés.