La Vigne Du Roy Rosé

“This wine rains kisses in your mouth.” –Insatiable By Gael Greene

The first Wednesday of every month is Wine Wednesday! Spectacular wines under $10.00. Yep. Under $10.00. Sometimes wine is less expensive where I am, but most of the time it’s more expensive. Hopefully that means that I will pick wines that are well below the $10.00 limit for most of you.

I will post wines that I particularly like. I am no specialist by any means, but I do love wine. I know the basics of the different varietals, what regions generally produce, how wines are made, but this space is all about preference. We all like what we like, and you might like what I like too. I will post food pairings and why those pairings are suitable for the specific wine.

La Vigne Du Roy Rosé 2015

Price: $9.99

It’s May, and that means #MargaritaWeek is upon us! Margarita Week is the brainchild of Kate over at Hola Jalapeño, and it’s possibly the best thing ever. Margaritas of all types—sweet, savory, salty, and acidic. Cinco de Mayo celebrations on point.

I love playing around with wine in cocktails (like last year’s spicy Jalapeño Moscato Margarita) because of the complexity wine brings to the table. Sometimes I find that cocktails can be too one-note. Predominantly sweet, or a mouthful of lime. Wine adds subtlety in flavor and taste profile…and it’s just delicious, obviously.

I know that I just shared a rosé last month with you, but for the same reasons I like to drink a good rosé (best of both the white and red worlds), I like to use it in cocktails. The acidity and mild fruit notes blend very well with other mixers and alcohol. I chose this French style—La Vigne Du Roy—because it’s a pretty easy drinking rosé with a dry finish. It’s also got an interesting floral quality. I thought that it would play well with the tequila and lime giving a nice background to the other powerful flavors. I also added ginger to play up the floral note and round out the drink with a fresh finish.

I would like to point out to those of you that prefer Cointreau as the orange liqueur of choice in your margs—you can get a much cheaper alternative that is basically the same. It’s called Gran Gala. The only difference is that the base brandy is Italian instead of French. For you triple sec fans…I recommend you try it! It’s a richer and fuller flavor profile.

I like a good salty note, so I stuck with the classic salt rim here. My mom, however, sampled this and liked a sugar rim to cut through the acidity a little bit. That being said, if you’re a person that enjoys margaritas on the sweeter side, this margarita recipe is pretty intensely dry and sour. Go with a sweeter wine choice or add a ½ ounce of simple syrup to suit your tastes. You could even go as far as using a dessert wine instead of a rosé, but cut the amount in half to prevent going overboard. It should still have a bite.

If you’re looking to really do up the Cinco de Mayo theme, I would suggest pairing this baby with my pea and avocado guac because the sweetness of the peas and fattiness of the avocado will greatly contrast the margarita.

You can head on over to Hola Jalapeño’s site (thanks for organizing, Kate!) to catch all the #MargaritaWeek 2017 recipes and last year’s list as well. And, bonus! Check out my favorite recipes appropriate for Cinco de Mayo celebrations below too.

Homemade Flour Tortillas + Shrimp and Pea Tacos

Homemade Mexican Chorizo + Queso Dip

Jalapeño Moscato Margarita

Sugar Plum Margarita

Sriracha, Corn, and Feta Salad

Ginger Rosé Margarita

Serves 2 or 1 very generously 😉

1 inch ginger root, peeled

1 teaspoon sugar in the raw or another granulated sugar

Ice

6 oz rosé, chilled

3 oz tequila

1 ½ oz Gran Gala or another orange liqueur

½ lime, juiced

1. Place your glasses in the fridge to chill briefly while you make the margarita.
2. Put the ginger in the bottom of your cocktail shaker with the sugar. With a muddler, break up the ginger, using the sugar to rub into the ginger and creating a paste.
3. Add a big handful of ice followed by the remaining ingredients. Cover and shake for 20-30 seconds.
4. Remove the glasses from the fridge and wet the rim with the pulpy bits of your juiced lime or another lime half. Dip in coarse salt or sugar—your choice.
5. Put a small handful of ice cubes in each glass and pour the drink through a strainer into each glass, diving evenly between them.
6. Enjoy! (Responsibly)