Montelle Winery

Discussing the fine Rosé Gold at Montelle Winery in Augusta, Missouri, is tricky. It is a blend of four grapes, including Dechaunac, which is hard to pronounce, and Seyval, which is also known as Seyve Villard 5-276. Analysis with our in-born senses, however, exposes a welcoming wine of consideration. The wine is pink/orange (not gold). As with the color, studying the smell reveals a tight mixture of tree fruit and berries. Some tartness teases the edges of the tongue at first, but the low tannin Dechaunac finishes off smoothly. It is a light wine but, by no means, thin or washed out. It is full of fruit, and over-sweetness is reigned in. The Seyval leads with soft lemon and clove tones. Dechaunac follows “trippingly on the tongue.” Prince Hamlet, from Shakespeare’s play, said that in a tense moment.

For this blushing wine, however, we should look not to Hamlet but to the highly romantic balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare wrote,

“What's in a name? That which we call a rose/ By any other word would smell as sweet.”

Indeed. Call it gold or orange or Seyve Villard 5-276, Montelle’s Rosé Gold is a fun, yet deserving, wine. I’m sure Shakespeare meant his words to read “That which we call a rosé…

$8.49 / 750 ml

Reviewed November 14, 2005 by Tim Pingelton.