Winey Tasting Notes: The Naughty Wine Name Series: Ménage à Trois Rosé

I like a wine with a name that can make you do a double take – or a giggle. And I do have fun with wines that have somewhat naughty names. 

Ménage à Trois is one of them. In fact, the first time I tried it (You can read about it by clicking here) I couldn’t believe that’s what it was really called. But it was, and the red blend quickly became, and still remains, one of my favorite red wines (blends or not) ever. The whole “à Trois” thing refers to the fact that the winemakers like to blend their wines with three different varietals. 

They’ve come out with some different blends over the years, and I have liked them all – see below for my other MaT reviews.) 

And given the fact that I’ve been somewhat obsessed with all the rosé wines that are making it big this year, I was so happy to find out that there is a Ménage à Trois Rosé (2014, 13.5%, California). 

The first aromas you’ll get when you sniff this rosé is raspberry. Definitely raspberry! It’s followed by a touch of strawberry and a whiff of that old Gewürztraminer stand-by, the lychee (or as I thought when I first sniffed it something I identified as “really ripe roses”). 

I tasted a wonderful array of summertime fruits and berries in this wine: strawberry, some tart gooseberry and raspberry. For good measure, there was a touch of honeysuckle flowers just lingering above all the other flavors. 

Given that just over a quarter of this wine is Gewürztraminer, it is on the sweeter side of the rosés I’ve been tasting recently. But please do NOT automatically think this means it’s too sweet. The Merlot and the Syrah especially keep this from being classically sweet without sacrificing the lushness of the Gewürztraminer. The flavors are all crisp and bright and if you let it sit out a few minutes after taking it out of the fridge (or bring it to your sunny patio to warm up immediately), they really open up. 

If you like a crisp, refreshing wine that is full of fruit flavor but not fruity sweet, you will love this one. It runs around $10 a bottle and will be showing up in my wine fridge often over the next few months (I’m a sucker for rosé in the warmer weather). 

If you want to read my other Ménage à Trois reviews, here they are:

Cheers!