Okay so last weekend I finally got around to testing something I've been meaning to try - pitting that Galleon Rose Pinot everyone's chatting about against a couple other fancy rose bottles I had lying around. Really wanted to see if the hype was real or just noise.
Setting Up The Test
First, I dug through the wine fridge in the garage. Found three bottles:
- The main one: Galleon Rose Pinot Noir 2022 - splurged on this after reading some blog chatter.
- Competitor A: A fancy Provence rose - nice pale pink color, decent rep.
- Competitor B: A cheaper grocery store pinot rose - "Premium Select" or whatever.
Popped all three around 3 PM – wanted them cold but not ice-cold, you know? Gave them maybe 15 minutes sitting out while I washed three identical glasses. Important to taste blind-ish, so I wrote A, B, C on sticky notes stuck to the bottles and shuffled them behind the counter. Wife poured them into numbered glasses without telling me which was which.
The Actual Tasting Mess
Started with Glass 1. Sniffed it. Smelled kinda... grapefruity? Tasted sharp, crisp. Very dry. Got that "Provence minerality" feel, like licking a wet stone (but in a good way?). Nice, light. Figured this was Competitor A. Decent sipper.
Glass 2 was different. Smelled sweeter, kinda fake candy strawberry vibe. Tasted it - yeah, way sweeter than glass 1. Fruity but... cheap fruity? Like that artificial watermelon candy. Also a slight bitterness at the end. Meh. Had that feeling it was the grocery store pinot rose (Competitor B). Okay for a pool party mixer maybe.
Then Glass 3. This one caught my attention. Sniff: Okay, wow. Deeper fruit smell – real cherries, maybe raspberries? Not candy. Also something underneath... spicy? Hint of... pepper almost? Weird! Tasted it. Boom. Much more flavor packed in. Like juicy strawberries and red berries, but serious. Not weak. Then... that kick! Slight tanginess, a bit of grip on the tongue (learned later that's tannins!), really drying. Completely different feel than Glass 1 & 2. More... solid? Substantial? Knew instantly this had to be the Galleon. It just had way more stuff going on inside.
Why Galleon Felt Different
Here’s the thing – compared to the others:
- Flavor Punch: It wasn't whisper-thin like the Provence rose. Full blast of actual fruit flavor.
- That Pinot Character: Had that slight spicy/herbal/earthy dirt vibe you expect from a red pinot noir, but in rose form. Means they actually used pinot noir grapes well! Competitor B (the cheap one) tasted like "red wine flavoring".
- Texture Matters: That drying feeling, the touch of tannin? Made it feel less like juice, more like real wine. Meant it could stand up to food.
Made this scribbled chart later:
- Provence Rose: Light, crisp, dry, easy. Perfect for hot day gulping.
- Cheap Pinot Rose: Sweet, fake fruit, bitter end. Avoid.
- Galleon Pinot Rose: Serious flavor, real fruit, spicy kick, grippy texture. Thinks it's a proper wine.
Final Thoughts After Dinner
The real test was with dinner. Grilled salmon and some herby potatoes. The Provence rose? Fine, disappeared basically. The cheap one? Clashed weirdly. But the Galleon? Man, it actually held its own. That bit of tang and grip cut through the fish oil, matched the herbs. Felt like a pairing, not just liquid beside food. That’s the difference. It’s a rose for people who maybe usually drink reds? Feels built to actually do something, not just be pink and cold. Yeah, it costs more, but you're paying for a proper wine experience disguised as rose. Worth trying for sure if you find it. Blew the others outta the water for me.
