Stop and Smell the Rosé
When it comes to warm-weather wine, rosé is as quintessential as the sidewalk lemonade stand. The luscious, refreshing pink tipple is perfect patio fodder and easily matched with just about any summertime food, making it dream drinking in July and August. In honor of rosé season, restaurants in Chicago are updating menus with rosé-centric wine lists to keep guests appropriately quenched.
This season, make Lush Wine & Spirits your oasis of rosé. With locations across the city, Lush is stocked, locked, and loaded to go with all things pink and boozy, from sweet and bubbly beverages to dry and still. Whether guests are picking up wine to go or sipping it at the wine bar, top picks this year include Anjos Vinho Verde Rosé, Laurent Miquel Rosé, Francois Seconde Brut Rosé, and Chateau Nomad Rosé, Lush’s exclusive label.
In terms of restaurant rosé portfolios, no one does it bigger or better than Nightwood. Since its inception, the restaurant has hosted an annual summer long series called Fete de Rosé, wherein they amp up their wine list with a dizzying array of rosés. The list stays rosé-heavy through Labor Day, containing plenty of selections by the bottle and by the glass.
Sensations of strawberries, violets, orange peels, and watermelon sing across the tongue as guests sip on new rosés at Ada St. The restaurant has added new potables to its wine list for the season, including the 2013 Sangiovese Alexander Valley, the 2011 Syrah/Grenache Chateau St. Cyrgues, and the 2012 Refrosco Bastianich.
Drink in the lap of luxury at Rebar, the Trump International Hotel & Tower’s resident lounge with a penchant for sushi, cocktails, and fine wine. New to the roster this season is a cocktail dubbed The Pink Affair made with rosé, elderflower, and fresh berries. Additionally, by-the-glass rosé pours include the Canard-Duchêne Champagne and Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, while rosé bottles include Trump Winery Rosé SP, Charles Heidsick, and Louis Roederer Cristal.
When in search of delicious seasonal wine, you’d be wise to head right to ENO Wine Room. As the name suggests, they know wine. And in honor of prime rosé season, the downtown lounge is serving up rise by the bottle, glass, or flight. The latter is called the Tickled Pink Flight, featuring a trifecta of bubbly rosés from across the globe, including Austrian Huber Hugo Brut Rosé, M. Lawrence Brut Rosé from the states, and French Varichon & Clerc Brut Rosé.
Rosé is also making its way into cocktails this season, as in a new sangria at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse or the aptly named Rosé All Day at Trenchermen. Commonly made with red or white wine, sangria is a summer sensation, so it makes sense to make it with summer’s signature wine. The Gold Coast steakhouse is serving up strawberry and peach sangria with rosé, orange liqueur, and strawberry vodka. It’s available by the glass or carafe. At Trenchermen, the new rosé cocktail is a boozy sensation featuring pisco, carbonated vodka, rosé, Napoleon Mandarine, and citrus.
Lush Wine & Spirits
1412 W. Chicago Avenue, Chicago
(312) 666-6900
2232 W. Roscoe Street, Chicago
(773) 281-8888
Website
Nightwood
2119 S. Halsted Street, Chicago
(312) 526-3385
Website
Ada St.
1664 N. Ada Street, Chicago
(773) 697-7069
Website
Rebar
401 N. Wabash Avenue, Chicago
(312) 588-8000
Website
ENO Wine Room
505 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago
(312) 321-8738
Website
Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse
58 E. Oak Street, Chicago
(312) 888-2499
Website
Trenchermen
2039 W. North Avenue, Chicago
(773) 661-1540
Website
