Every so often I find myself in a bar, be it dive or upscale, at an afterwork event with cocktail sponsoring or at home with a yen for a spirit to cherry-top my bothersome day. At said bars, with dives I stick to the easy cocktail that can't be ruined whereas at the upscales I may tend to go with a glossy top shelf-based specialty cocktail. At those sponsored events I'll look for ingredients that I love first, then compare them to the ones that aren't necessarily my first choice and then finally assess how the spirit holds up in them. When at home, I'll concoct a drink to rival the day's severity. This can be anything from white wine for a manageable day to anything from cognac or mezcal for an exhaustive unnerving day.
Many often pair their drink to match the weight of their day, but what about a new drink that's undiscovered and untasted. Well if you're anything like me then you begin to contemplate exactly where said drink would fit into the library of situation & spirit mash-ups that systematically dictate the heft of your drink. I thought of this when I first sampled Rosa 22 an Aperitivo Rosé from Stella Rosa of the esteemed Riboli Family Wine Estates. With Stella Rosa being the number one American-imported Italian wine, Rosa 22 emerges as an amazing aperitivo rosé that, rather than being infused, is steeped and extracted of all natural fruits similarly to a cup of tea for 60 days in stainless steel before undergoing cold stabilization for a crisper more clarified rosé. Immediately upon tasting this, I sort of swooned. Rosa 22 is floral and sweet with a refreshing flavor profile that evokes nice oral and nasal sensations like walking through a flower garden. What's delightfully characteristic is that much like exploring a garden, there is an offset to the presence of sweet with subtle bitter notes and an underlying hint of tartness from ingredients like mandarin orange, peach, orange peels and aromatic botanicals.
What you're left with is a great cocktail that I found to be thoroughly satisfying on its own but with a special enough platform to create full cocktails. The flavor of Rosa 22 is so distinct and pleasing to both your sweet-seeking and cultivated palettes and can become a tremendous flavor component to cocktails with neutral spirits or spirits with similar notes like vodka, gin and wines like prosecco. Getting back to where I would place Rosa 22 in my situation/spirit library, I thought this would be great with brunch, at an outdoor Summer soiree or perhaps at the end of a great, eventful and lesser frenzied workday when you just want a celebrate with a great apperitivo accompanied with a superb meal. With that on the brain I thought of creating one of my signature cocktails, but chose to just showcase what I love about Rosa 22; its organic loveliness. Please check out a simple way to enjoy Rosa 22 below with the R22 Cocktail:
R22
2 ounces Rosa 22
1/2 ounce Fresh Lime Juice
1-2 sprigs Fresh Mint (my added touch)
Splash Soda Water (Seltzer)
Ice
Lime Wheel (garnish)
This easy and simple cocktail is a great way to experience the natural beauty of Rosa 22. It's fragrant with a pleasant full-bodied sweetness that is perfectly balanced with the citrus tartness of the lime and the verdant pop of the fresh mint. I must say that when I cracked open this bottle, it didn't last the day. Rosa 22 is really that enjoyable and an ultra pleasant sipper over ice with lime to mellow out your day. Check with local finer wine and spirit retailer for Rosa 22 availability or check here for national availability and as always please remember to enjoy responsibly.
