Leliévre Gris de Toul Millésime
Price: $18.99
Region: Lorraine, France
Year: 2013
Retailer: DomaineLA
Today felt like summer when I got home from work. The house was warm despite the AC, and the sun was low and bright despite being nearly six. I peeled off my jeans and went braless. I was listening to some new songs I was really excited about, and you have to know that every great summer has great accompaniment.
I'm elated right now.
And maybe it's the weed I smoked when I got home, something I never do. Or the new vibrator I bought myself for my birthday next week, something I haven't done in probably ten years.
But I'm pretty sure it's being braless with a beautiful rosé and knowing that even though it's only March, I can feel this summer starting to squeeze softly on my soul. I couldn't say it any better today than I did in this Tumblr post from 2008:
Yesterday I felt it. I drove across that barren, reptilian highway, following the green signs to the promise land: Los Angeles. My skin was warm where the sun shined in through the windows & the the AC was just right. Right then, I felt it. That was how summer felt. Sunroof open, music blaring; I could almost hear my friends laughing in the backseat, singing wholeheartedly in their day-drunk to Jens Lekman, The Strokes & my infamous summer mixes of two thousand & six after a day of Captain Morgan & Coke where the western sun sets over the waves. I can never remember working in the summer or any domestic disputes. I know they were there but all faded away into the sunshine. The same desolate highways become stunning & promising trajectories toward some destination. It doesn’t matter where— the shoreline, the city, the middle of nowhere— they were all an unforeseeable adventure & an unorthodox paradise waiting to infuse my mind full of memories yet to be discovered & eternalized.
The cynical side of me wants to laugh at that dreamy, idealistic child but I'm still that dreamy, idealistic child. Maybe more so than ever.
And this rosé tastes just like that, an idyllic dream of Richard Linklater scenes where we're all falling in love and the scenery is practically a painting dripping all over us.
This Rosé is 90% Gamay, which probably explains a lot of the hearts in my eyes, but I want to drink this every warm day for the rest of the year. I want to be sunbathing with dozens of strawed bottles of this all around my lawn chair so that anywhere I put my face, I have at least three glasses at my disposal. I want to drink this all of summer 2015, and I want to take it back with me to every other perfect summer I've ever had. Because that's what it tastes like, a perfect summer.
Salty like the ocean and floral like the tiny star jasmine hedges I would run past every night at dusk in my neighbor's year. A little chlorine-y, but it's the minerality, and I just have this weird affinity for chlorine. I'm weak in the knees. My thoughts go directly to hot concrete, first kisses, the sound of badminton in the backyard, and Sex Wax.
I've never loved a Rosé like this. I may have thought I did, but nope. Definitely not. Definitely have never wanted a Rosé in my mouth night after night after night like this. I'm not even finished with the first bottle, and I'm fantasizing about the next.
I don't even know what else to say. I wish I could write a song about this shit. I'm a fool for Leliévre Gris de Toul Millésime. A GOD DAMNED FOOL.
Tasting Notes: Alright, aside from what I already told you with its salt and floral and minerality, it reminds me of a jar of pepperoncinis. For the record, pepperoncinis are one of my favorite things in the world. I eat jars of them just alone while chilling in front of my fridge. It has to do with the high acidity, but it's super balanced. I would never tell you a wine tasted like pepperoncinis unless it was fucking delicious so just roll with me. It's so well-balanced, that this is a tangy treat. Ugh, someone please send me a million bottles?
Ross Test: The acidity gets to be a little questionable out of the bottle, but I think it would be very refreshing midday when it's really fucking hot.
