Ready for a wine to become your go-to for summer drinkin’? Why yes, Sofia strikes again with her 2013 Rosé.

If you don’t know about Sofia, the person, a quick primer on the maker of the Sofia 2013 Rosé. Sofia is Sofia Coppola. Visiting the Wikipedia page tells me that she’s no longer married to Spike Jonze, which is a piece of pop culture that eluded me. This nugget must have been obscured by the Kardashians.

Digressions aside, the Coppola family – scion Francis also holds his own in the film industry – knows its wine, too, as Dad bought the former Chateau Souverain estate in Geyserville and started making wine.

When we write the sidebar piece about visiting Napa Valley, it will include this tip: visit just one of the big boys, such as Coppola, just to hear from the big boys, get the tour, understand the process, all that stuff. Then spend the rest of your time at places recommended by locals, friends, etc.

Sofia has been at it for awhile, and even got a 90-point rating from Wine Enthusiast for the 2011 vintage. How will the 2013 stack up, at least according to this reporter? Let’s get to the review.

Sofia 2013 Rosé Review

Taste

FACT: Americans don’t drink as much rosé as French. By insanely wide margins, as referenced in these charts from the French. Probably because of the following if/then logic issue that, I’ll admit, crosses my mind all the time:

IF White Zinfandel is pink AND White Zinfandel is swill, THEN all pink wine is swill.

In fact, it wasn’t til some other wine lovers hooked us up with some really really good rosé that my own thinking started to change.

ADVERTISEMENT: At the Plonk Wine Club, we do the picking and you do the drinking! We do all the work so that you don’t have to.
This, per the website, is a Rosé of Syrah, Pinot Noir and Grenache. (Ya know, reading that website makes me think that I should be capitalizing the word “Rosé.” Because it’s a variety of grape. Also, that stands out and I can then show off that I figured out how to do the accent aigu in Francais. (Now, about that cedille.)

This is not sweet. I don’t do sweet wine. I want something with a great nose – this has it – and some earthiness to it – this has that, too, probably the Pinot. Can’t taste like chalk (which I get from a lot of Chardonnays, personally; a surefire sign that I’m not spending enough on my Chardonnays).

Quintessential “summer drinkin’ wine.” An absolute delight – enjoyed some at the block party this past weekend and, well, it didn’t disappoint. Plus, stands up to lighter stuff you’re eating – which, in my case, was a salad. Not a steak wine at all, but that’s okay, because block parties aren’t about steak.

Profile

Syrah. Pinot. Grenache. Not sure how much of each. ABV of 12.8%

Value

$12.99 at Costco. SCORE! Website says you can pay $14 or so with a membership. My last time visiting Coppola’s Estate (the winery, not Frank’s house; don’t call him “Frank,” either) the person in the tasting room told me: “Don’t buy our wines here. You can get them cheaper anywhere else.” Smart marketing, though, to mark their own stuff up so it’s got some caché from buying it there. Or not.

EDITOR’S NOTE: On my most recent trip to Costco, this was $9.99, not $12.99. May not have been $12.99 at all – though we’ve had friends in other states tell us $12.99 was their price.

Metasip Grade: A-

Why doesn’t this get an A if it’s an “absolute delight?”

My thinking is this: at $12.99, without a lot to compare it with, I’m not sure it qualifies on all the scales for an A. It’s a great value – if you buy it at Costco. And it drinks more expensively. BUT, it’s not the right mix of Taste, Profile, and Value to justify an A.