2011 Christian Lauverjat SANCERRE ROSÉ "Moulin des Vrillères" (Loire, France)

One of the few things I like about hot weather is that it's an excuse to pop a bottle of my favorite type of rosé:  Sancerre.  Pinot Noir, from very chalky soil and a cool climate.  Trifecta for fragrant, vibrant rosé!  This one is really nice.

Absolutely glowingly crystalline light salmon-pink color.  Exuberant nose -- lightly earthy and yeasty, loads of bright stony minerals, fruit conjuring strawberry, golden cherry, and grape.  Bone dry, with bright acids, it comes on minerally, molts into cherry pit and strawberry fruit, and finishes with clean, clingy, intense, slightly bitter minerality.  In other words, lots going on, particularly for a rosé.  A-.  Was $21 at Whole Foods in Arlington (Clarendon).  That's more than basic rosés from the south of France, but it's worth it when looking for something more than just a thirst-slaker.  Imported by Elite Wine Imports, Lorton, VA.