Spotlight: Rosé in the garden

Wine Authorities staff

Wine Authorities staff

by Jessie Ammons

courtesy Ridgewood Wine & Beer Co., Wine Authories, and The Raleigh Wine Shop

‘Tis the season for garden parties. The Person Street District’s Wine Authorities will host a themed soirée May 23 to celebrate a favorite spring wine choice: rosé. Many people think it’s a sweet wine, says Craig Heffley, founder of the shop that stocks wine from small, independent farms. “But we feature dry rosés. They’re fresh and just harvested five or six months before we drink them.”

Partygoers are encouraged to wear “swanky hats and bow-ties” to the free afternoon event, where there will be plenty of rosés to sample. Attendees can purchase sips of various wines by the ounce or glass from the store’s Enomatic, an Italian wine dispensing machine. Each glass comes with a plate of five North Carolina oysters or fried catch-of-the-day from Walkingfish, a local Community Supported Fishery. To enhance the wines’ “tart and refreshing” flavors, a gourmet cheese plate by Angela Salamanca of downtown’s Centro will also be available. “This party will make rosé fun,” Heffley says. “It can be a casual wine.”

At the end of the afternoon, the winner of a staff-judged contest of garden party attire – the swankier and toungue-in-cheek-fancier, the better – will get a $100 gift certificate to Wine Authorities. Time to don those rosé-colored glasses.

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courtesy Ridgewood Wine & Beer Co., Wine Authories, and The Raleigh Wine Shop

The Rosé Garden lasts from noon – 3 p.m. at Wine Authorities, 211 E. Franklin St. Admission is free and includes a tasting of 4 rosés; glasses of wine are $15 and include a fish or oyster plate; chef-prepared cheese plates are $9. The event will also happen at the same time on the same date at Wine Authorities’ Durham location, 2501 University Dr.