1999 Francois Cotat Sancerre Rose'

[wondersofwine]

The label is confusing (and illegal in France because it has the name of the town, Chavignol, in larger print than the Sancerre appellation). It says rose' nowhere on the bottle and is sometimes sold as Sancerre rouge, but it is definitely a rose'. I first tried it at a tasting at a restaurant and was reminded of strawberries. After purchasing three bottles and having it at home with foods, I compare it more to raspberries and lingonberries (red fruits anyway).
The color is hard to describe other than blush (not pink or coral or orange). Maybe sunset or eye of the partridge (I believe that is one way to describe blush wines). I could tell it was from the pinot noir grape though it's nothing like a hearty red burgundy. It drinks with the lightness and fruitiness of the gamay grape. The distributor, David Schildknecht, says he sometimes fools experts by serving this rose in a black glass at a tasting. Some will identify it as a Sancerre/Loire wine but will misidentify the grape--thinking it to be from the Sauvignon Blanc.
The first night I had it at home with a frozen dinner of chicken piccata and rice with vegetables (after working and then voting in a municipal election). The next day I had a large noon meal and went with a salad and swiss cheese for dinner. This food -friendly wine seemed to go with all these choices. Cotat is one of the respected producers in Sancerre and this wine usually is priced at $29.99 at my usual wine shop but was on sale recently at $17.99 making it a best buy.