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Rosé Wine Pairing Ideas for Spring

Dreaming of the summer days when you can sit outside and enjoy a glass of Rosé? Well, summertime is just around the corner, and it is time to start planning some outdoor events where you can get together with some friends and enjoy some Rosé and snacks! Here are some pairing ideas we think will be crowd-pleasers this summer. 

  1. Seafood, specifically salmon – Enjoy some fresh seafood this summer with your favorite glass of Rosé.
  2. Veggie pizza – Plan an at-home date night to make homemade pizza and sip some Rosé!
  3. Soft cheeses: brie and goat cheese – If you are looking to make a charcuterie board to pair with Rosé, make sure to include these soft cheeses. 
  4. Pesto – Enjoy some pesto as a dip or include it in a dish!
  5. Grilled meats – Grilling screams summertime, so fire up the grill for a dinner that will pair well with Rosé. 
  6. Charcuterie board  – There is nothing quite like a beautiful and tasty charcuterie board to go with a nice bottle of rosé.
  7. Egg dishes – For a brunch option, make some egg dishes such as quiche. 
  8. Fresh salads – Green or grain salads are great options to pair with Rosé this summer. 
  9. Bruschetta – For a snack choice, put together some bruschetta for you and your guests to enjoy, paired with your favorite Rosé.
  10. Fruit and fruit salad – Enhance the sweetness of the Rosé with your choice of fruit or even put together a fruit salad!

Whether you are planning a brunch or dinner event, there are plenty of options of how to pair Rosé wine. So stop into Mystic Wine Shoppe soon and pick up your favorite bottle to enjoy as the weather starts to get warmer!

Thanks for reading and see you soon. Eric and the MWS team.

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Summer’s Not Over Sangria

We’re not ready for summer to be over yet, so we’re savoring the last of summer with this mouth-watering sangria! Plus, with all that left-over fruit and half bottles of rosé from your Labor Day gatherings, this should be an easy cocktail to whip up! What we love about sangria is that it can be made in so many different ways. So check out our recipe, but please share your sangria concoction with us!

What makes this sangria so different is the use of rosé wine and a splash of vodka (cause, hey, it’s 2020).

 Floozie Rosé

  • Ingredients:
    • 1/2 cup of fresh fruit (we had leftover fruit salad, so we used blueberries, strawberries, and peaches)
    • 3 ounces of rosé – we love Hugh Hamilton’s Floozie Rosé
    • Splash of vodka – we love Monkey Paradise Vodka
    • 2 ounces of sparkling water
    • Splash of orange juice
  • Make it: Mix all ingredients together in a fancy glass and enjoy

Tip: If you have more time, soak the fruit in rosé before adding to drink!

 

Let us know your favorite sangria recipe!

Thanks for following along!

Mystic Wine Shoppe

 

 

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Diving Into Hampton Water Rosé

Out on the far southeastern tip of Long Island is a playground of the rich called “The Hamptons.” It’s rumored that there, every summer, the rosé flows like water. That’s how Hampton Water Rosé got its name. And yeah, it was launched by rocker Jon Bon Jovi and his son, who wisely partnered with acclaimed French winemaker Gérard Bertrand to create a wine that is much better than the mid-life anthem “It’s My Life.” Made in France, with a blend of 60% Grenache, 15% Cinsault, 15% Mourvèdre and 10% Syrah, the wine was proclaimed “Best Rosé of 2018” by Wine Spectator.


I didn’t know that when I picked it up, I just liked the label, which features an illustration of a woman diving into the water. So, even though my tastes edge more toward Salisbury Beach than Sag Harbor, I brought a bottle of Hampton Water to accompany a weekend with my adult kids on a lake in New Hampshire. It was almost 5pm when my daughter and I brought some snacks down to the dock and opened the bottle.

The sun was low, the water was sparkling and the wine was cold and delicious. I’ve found that some rosés can be too sweet, others a little harsh—a little alcohol-forward. This wasn’t. It was fruity and fresh and bold enough to stand up to ice cubes and even a splash of seltzer (hey, the day was still young!). We were impressed with the bottle’s glass stopper and we loved the way the wine tasted with sweet dark cherries and as well as with Irish cheddar. It even went with Cheez-Its (as I said, we’re not in the Hamptons).

After a glass each, we decided to try to recreate the picture on the label by diving off the dock. Our attempts resulted in a few stinging belly flops and exuberant splashes that damped the Cheez-Its. That’s when we decided that not only does Bon Jovi makes a very nice wine, but he was right: ‘We ain’t gonna live forever.” So we climbed out of the water, toweled off, and finished the bottle. Like the man says “It’s now or never.” We choose now.

By Carol Band (our local wine connoisseur)

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2019 Grand Rosé Wine Tasting Recap

Thank you to everyone who attended our 3rd annual Grand Rosé Tasting.  We had an amazing turnout and got to chat with so many great people.  Our wine vendors didn’t disappoint and came ready to pour; sampling 13 delicious wines for our attendees. We look forward to many more tastings at Mystic Wine Shoppe.

Here are some photos from the event – 

Rosé Tasting 2019 (8 of 45) Rosé Tasting 2019 (32 of 45) Rosé Tasting 2019 (17 of 45)

Rosé Tasting 2019 (27 of 45) Rosé Tasting 2019 (26 of 45)

Rosé Tasting 2019 (21 of 45) Rosé Tasting 2019 (25 of 45)

Rosé Tasting 2019 (5 of 45) Rosé Tasting 2019 (4 of 45)

Rosé Tasting 2019 (30 of 45) Rosé Tasting 2019 (31 of 45)

Rosé Tasting 2019 (37 of 45) Rosé Tasting 2019 (35 of 45)

Rosé Tasting 2019 (10 of 45) Rosé Tasting 2019 (22 of 45)

Rosé Tasting 2019 (39 of 45) Rosé Tasting 2019 (41 of 45)

Check our weekly tasting schedule for our next beer and wine tastings. Thanks!

 

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Grand Rosé Wine Tasting Recap

This past weekend we hosted our annual Grand Rosé Wine tasting at Mystic Wine Shoppe.  We had 3 great wine reps sharing samples of 12 delicious rosé wines. Guests from near and far (some folks joined us from Western, MA) enjoyed finding their favorite new rosé wine(s).  Thank you to everyone who joined us for this fantastic event.  Keep an eye out for our Fall Grand Wine Tasting in October.

Special thanks to local Author Kathleen E.R. Murphy for being our special guest.  Her book, Wisdom Whisperer, is on sale now! Buy it now… it makes for a great gift for Graduates.

Mystic Wine Shoppe (18 of 47) Mystic Wine Shoppe (22 of 47)

Mystic Wine Shoppe (16 of 47) Mystic Wine Shoppe (25 of 47)

Mystic Wine Shoppe (9 of 47) Mystic Wine Shoppe (23 of 47)

Mystic Wine Shoppe (36 of 47) Mystic Wine Shoppe (17 of 47)

GrandTasting_0219 Mystic Wine Shoppe (12 of 47)

Mystic Wine Shoppe (14 of 47) Mystic Wine Shoppe (19 of 47)

GrandTasting_0205 Mystic Wine Shoppe (31 of 47)

Mystic Wine Shoppe (41 of 47) Mystic Wine Shoppe (44 of 47)

Mystic Wine Shoppe (10 of 47) Mystic Wine Shoppe (7 of 47)

Thanks again for your support!

The Mystic Wine Shoppe Team 🙂

 

 

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June’s Cocktail: Frosé

Last summer rosé and frosé (frozen rosé) was all the rage and we think it will only become more popular this summer. With new rosés coming out left and right, the options for tasting and creating cocktails is endless. This month we’re sharing a super simple recipe to make your own frosé at home.

Check it out –

MWS Frose (12 of 15)

Mystic Wine Shoppe Frosé Ingredients:

  • Bottle of rosé – we found the darker colored rosé worked well to hold its color
  • Juice of a lemon
  • Handful of rasperries
  • 1/2 cup sugar

IMG_9329 MWS Frose (1 of 15)

Prep:

  • Freeze your rosé for at least 6 hours – we used ice cube trays
  • Place sugar into a small saucepan and add half a cup of water. Heat and stir constantly until sugar dissolves. Add crushed  raspberries to the sugar/water mixture. Let it all sit for a couple of minutes in the freezer. Strain out the liquid and place to the side.

MWS Frose (3 of 15)

Directions:

  • Mix together frozen rosé cubes, handful of ice, raspberry liquid and lemon juice
  • Blend to perfection and serve!

MWS Frose (11 of 15)

This would be perfect for all your summer cookouts!  Next month we’re adding strawberries and vodka to take it up a notch!

Thanks for your support – Cheers,

Mystic Wine Shoppe

 

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Bello Rosato!

Summer is the time of the year that I come alive.  Having grown up in India, on a beach in Goa no less, I am still accustomed to sunny days and warm ocean breezes.  Right now, I feel like a bear emerging from hibernation, as the crocuses finally pop up and the forsythia celebrate the changing season with bright yellow sprays of color.

And speaking of celebrating, what better way to cheer on the warmth, the long, lazy days and heat of the sun on your bare skin than to chill down a beautiful bottle of rosé and throw the windows open for the fresh air.  That is exactly what I have been doing with a dry, refreshing bottle of Castello di Bossi Rosato.  Just saying the name of the wine makes me happy.  
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The Castello di Bossi Rosato, made from 70% Sangiovese grapes and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, uses the maceration method to gain some color from the red grapes.  That means that it spends approximately 3 hours in contact with the red skins of the grape before the juice is pressed off and fermented separately.  There are two other methods for making rosé wines.  One is just to blend in some red wine to add color.  This is generally not allowed in most wines that want to be labeled as quality wines.  The second is to use a technique called “Saignée”, which means to bleed off.  In this method, some of the wine in a red wine fermentation is bled off after a short period of time to be fermented separately as rosé, which leaves less juice and more skins in the main vat to concentrate the flavors of the red wine.  This technique is used in places like Bandol in Southern France where the grapes may not have ripened enough or in places like Napa Valley, where vintners want to make richer, more extracted wines.  
This Rosato is a dry, dusty, wonderfully aromatic wine full of bright cherries and cranberries and hints of fresh, wild herbs.  On the mouth, it has a bright acidity on the open with a fruity, yeasty lingering finish.  One of the secrets to enjoying a good wine is to appreciate what comes before and after as much as the actual taste.  You should smell it, swirl it, smell again.  As the volatile compounds are released, they tease you with elusive scents that change from second to second.  When you finally taste it, you are invariably surprised because the nose did not reveal all of its treasures.  And then, for a really good wine, you can just enjoy the lingering aromas after you have swallowed it.  Sometimes that is even the best part of the whole experience.  This wine gives you a similar experience.  Each part of the tasting gives you a different impression and a different experience.  And you realize after each sip that the process was so enjoyable that you want to experience the whole thing again.  
 
Serve this wine well chilled – in an ice bucket – with a plate of caprese salad and prosciutto, a light pasta with fresh vegetables and herbs, grilled chicken sausages and sage-scented butternut squash soup (like we did!) or a creamy mushroom risotto…you will be in heaven.
Thanks for reading, Seema
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Crab Salad & Sparkling Wine

The warmer weather is slowly arriving and the Sophora NV Cuvee Sparkling Wine and crab salad (see below for recipe) combo is the perfect combo to welcome spring!
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Sophora NV Cuvee Sparkling Wine Tasting Notes: Don’t confuse NV – non-vintage – with lower quality.  Non-vintage just means that the wine in the bottle has been blended with a “reserve wine” during the second fermentation to create a house style.  This wine is scrumptious.  When the distributor came by with it for a tasting, I was blown away and asked to take it home that evening to share with my true love.  And even my beloved, who for the past 23 years has professed indifference to sparkling wines, loved it.  It is rich and full-bodied, being a combination of 52% Chardonnay and 48% Pinot Noir, with the best of both grapes.  Crisp acidity, fruit forward off-dry taste and a round, soft mouthfeel aided by the very fine bubbles.  Had I not known better, I might have guessed it was a champagne and twice the price.  This wine will pair perfectly with an endive and crab salad.

Crab Salad in Endive Leaves

  • 1/2 lb. crab meat, all cartilage removed
  • Dressing: 
    • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
    • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
    • 1/3 finely diced celery
    • Grated zest of 1 lemon plus 1 or 2 tbsp lemon juice
    • 2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
    • 1 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
    • Salt, ground black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste
  • 12 to 18 Belgian endive leaves
  • To Make:
    • In a large bowl, combine the mustard, mayonnaise, celery, lemon juice, chives and parsley. Add the crab meat and mix in gently. Season to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. When ready, scoop some crab salad into individual endive leaves and arrange on a platter.
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