Big Bottle Enjoyment Doesn’t Get Any Better

Everybody loves to pull out a big bottle of wine and pour the contents to the assembled group. A magnum holds 1500 ml, or two standard bottle sizes. It’s perfect for larger summer get-togethers. Having a bigger quantity means not having to switch bottles if you offer a selection of foods that complement the wine in question. Dry rosé is the rage these days and Gérard Bertrand is the international market leader with his Côte des Roses Rosé brand. Hailing from select vineyards located along the French Mediterranean coast, this is the benchmark for dry, refreshing, medium-bodied, aromatic rosé. It is achieved by taking red wines and leaving them on the skins for less time, just enough to get the pink hues we are so captivated by. The Grenache, Syrah, and Cinsault grape varieties that make up this blend give us stone fruit notes in the bouquet underpinned by complex, medium red wine texture in the body. Serving it well-chilled makes it a winner on its own, or pair with pink coloured foods: unthawed cocktail shrimp rings that every supermarket carries with their pink tails and pinkish skin. Dip them in a cocktail sauce, take a sip of rosé, and you’ve got a marriage made in the mouth; or skinless, baked salmon filets with their pink flesh topped with a mango salsa. With the 1500 ml of wine, there’s plenty to go around. It’s a Vintages one time purchase, so keep and re-use the distinctive bottle with its rose embossed base design for decorative purposes around the house.

2024 Gérard Betrand Côte des Roses 1500 ml LCBO # 490912, $38.95