What Carolyn Pours: Marande 2025 Rosé

When spring flowers start popping up everywhere, it’s definitely time to reach for a glass of rosé. In this case, I reached for the Marande 2025. This wine leans fully into freshness and fragrance—made from 100% Cinsault grape, it’s light, easy drinking, and quietly elegant. On the palate, it’s bright and juicy, with low tannins and a gentle almost silky texture. This is the kind of bottle you can open casually, share and enjoy without needing a special occasion. 

The Languedoc region from whence it hails is a sun soaked area along the Mediterranean coast. The reference on the bottle to Pays D’OC indicates the geographic area where this wine is made, and is often found on good value and crowd pleasing wines. 

Unlike some of the tightly controlled appellations in places like Bordeaux or Burgundy, Pays D’Oc gives winemakers in that area freedom to plant international grapes like Chardonnay or Merlot alongside more traditional southern varietals. Cinsault also produces high yields, which is another reason it tends to be very affordable.

Some of my favorite rosés come out of this region in southern France. My first sip of this one took me right back to my days living in Nice and enjoying the sun soaked beaches and cafes along the promenade. A well-made wine should do that—shift you, even just a little, to a place you loved. Cinsault, especially a lighter fresh style like this one, goes best with food that does not overpower it, making it a wonderful Margherita pizza wine.

The grapes are picked at night, when it’s cool, to keep everything bright and fresh and avoid oxidation. After a gentle press, the juice ferments at low temperatures, which helps preserve those delicate aromatics. In the glass, it’s a pale, luminous pink, with soft notes of strawberry, sweet raspberry and watermelon. At only 12% alcohol, you can enjoy more than one glass.

For this review I asked Yos, one of the owners at Aldrich’s in uptown Port Townsend, for his recommendation of a popular rosé, and he suggested the Marande 2005. At $12.99 it is a best seller and it is easy to understand why. This also means you can easily try it for yourself as they have plenty in stock. 

A slight chill on the wine, 15 or 20 minutes in the fridge, makes it even more refreshing. Pick up some cheese, ideally some burrata, and invite a few friends over for a patio happy hour. I guarantee they will leave feeling much happier and relaxed than when they first arrived. You can even put an ice cube in this wine without feeling guilty about doing so.