How Rosé Became Everyone’s Favorite Wine

Luminous and versatile, rosé has built a reputation as an “all day” sort of affair. Aromatic and bright, the pink drink has shed many of its previous sweet associations, as the lighter French style of rosé has soared in popularity over the last 15 years.

For nearly three decades, the style popularized by brands like Sutter Home was synonymous with rosé in the United States. Fruity and sweet white zinfandel was the ubiquitous American style. The variety of grapes and styles within rosé is vast: sweet, dry, still and bubbly. Yet the U.S. market leaned heavily on the sweet end of the spectrum until the lighter Provence-style rosé grew in popularity in the late 1990s.

“Provence has been making and shipping more and more rosé,” says Grappa Fine Wine and Spirits owner Jonathan Staufer. “It’s light and palatable, which makes sense because no one wants to drink syrah in the Mediterranean when it’s 90 degrees.” The style is quite popular at the Vail store, displayed front and center in the cellar.

Provence rosé is notoriously clean and crisp, with subtle aromatics that allow the wine to be versatile. Root & Flower owner and sommelier Jeremy Campbell even suggests that the quality of Provence rosé tends to be very high. “If I was at a wine store and only had $15 to spend, even if it was a producer I’ve never heard of, Provence rosé would be a good bet,” he says.

Steve Steese, co-owner and winemaker of The Storm Cellar. Photo by Irene Durante.

While Provence bottlings are in many ways the rosé du jour at the moment, rosé is more about process than provenance or style. Steve Steese is the co-owner and winemaker at The Storm Cellar, a vineyard and winery that produces bright rosés in Hotchkiss. “We basically think of rosé as taking red grapes and producing them as you would white wine,” Steese says.

This means using rich and nuanced red wine grapes, but allowing only minimal skin contact during fermentation. Subtle aromatics and a more balanced palate are lent by the red grapes, but the body is more reminiscent of a white wine. The Storm Cellar embodies these qualities, with vibrant rosés that, as Steese suggests, bring “bright fruit-tones and fresh acidity” to the forefront of the experience.

“This makes it a happy medium style — a light everyday drinker that can be enjoyed really in any weather,” Campbell suggests. The style is infinitely versatile, “[Pair it] with any white wine food like seafood, cheese and poultry. Yet it can also pair with meat, even something as bold as steak. Think grilled steak with rosemary and thyme.”

This versatility is far reaching. While rosé certainly has connotations of spring and summer associated with it, a good crisp rosé works year-round. Whether you’re sipping poolside in July, toasting golden aspens in September or après-ski in February, its bright acidity and fruit-forward profile make it a perfect companion for any season.

“It’s perfect on a warm ski day,” says Staufer. “Honestly, it just looks like liquid sunshine.” Bright and radiant, a wine that conjures Provence — whether under the summer sun or in 18 inches of powder.

Originally published in the summer 2025 issue of Spoke+Blossom.