To pick your perfect rosé, follow my Somm steps:

1) Alcohol. Start with the alcohol content. I like to keep it under 14%. Keep in mind that wineries are allowed a “margin of error”. For a wine with 14% abv or below, for example, the actual alcohol content can differ by as much as 1.5% from what’s on the label, though it cannot exceed 14%. For a wine above 14% abv, a 1% variance is allowed.

2) Location. Old World and cool climate varieties tend to yield lower sugar content and in turn, alcohol. When you’re looking at wine, pop out your Google Maps and see where the wine is from. If it’s coastal or on a mountain it is generally safe to assume that it’ll be a cooler climate than say the Napa Valley floor.

3) Variety. Although going for a grape variety that you know and love is usually a good rule of thumb, when it comes to rosé you may be fooled. To an untrained palate these wines can taste a lot different than their red counterpart. So, once you find a rosé variety that you like - for instance Sangiovese, Cab Franc, etc… you can use that as an anchor to explore other similar styles you may like!