March: It's Time to Tend to Your Rose (Wine) Garden

My rose gardening needs pruning and fertilizing right now but right now I am focusing on another kind of rose - rose wines.

It's March and many boutique organic or biodynamic producers have just released their 2011 roses. Many  sell out early. (Horse and Plow - among my favorites - just did. Last year the Chronicle chose it as a Top 100 Wine of the Year - they only make about 75 cases of it.)

Biodynamic Oregon wineries Cowhorn and Maysara regularly sell out on their roses early. So does biodynamic Saracina. Roses are so popular - they're often the lowest priced wine a winery offers, and they're so versatile. There's not much it doesn't go with. It's perfect for picnics, brunches, sipping on its own and the season ahead.

So - a word to the wise: get online and order up a few cases now, before your favorite producers are sold out.

Some organic producers are:

• Beckmen (Santa Barbara County)
• Bonterra (Mendocino, Lake Counties)
• Coturri (Natural, Sonoma)
• Cowhorn (Near Jacksonville, Oregon)

• Heller Organic (Monterey County)
• Horse and Plow (Sonoma/Testa/Mendo) (2011 already sold out)
• Lucas (Lodi)

• Maysara (McMinnville, Oregon)

• Medlock Ames (Near Geyserville)
• Naughty Boy (Potter Valley, Mendocino)
• Pheasant Valley (Oregon)

• Saracina (Hopland, Mendocino)

• Testa (Calpella, Mendocino)
• Verdad (San Luis Obispo County)

Believe it or not, there are even more in my iPhone app (coming soon).

Generally roses are priced from $14 - $20.