Road 13 Honest John’s Rosé Is My Unofficial Wine Of COVID-19

What do you do when faced with a global pandemic that will alter the world as you know it, perhaps indefinitely? You buy a bottle of Honest John’s Rosé from Road 13, sit on a park bench and watch the sun sink down below the mountains and that’s exactly what I did on the eve of what I consider ‘the implosion’ – the day COVID-19 sent us into our houses.

I work in the restaurant business as a social media manager and we knew that when Seattle restaurants started shutting their doors en mass that it was about to hit us and hit us hard. In one week went from, ‘but Dr. Bonnie Henry said it’s okay to dine-out’ to the industry essentially shutting down. 

It was a shock.

I’ve worked in restaurants since I was 15, nearly 20 years, and I have never seen, nor ever thought I’d see, anything like it. 

So, I hightailed it up to High Point Beer and Wine and I grabbed a basket with the wheels – you know it’s real when you get the one with the wheels – and filled it with enough BC wine, beer and spirits to ride this thing out in case the apocalypse has really come. One of my better choices from that haul was Road 13’s Honest John’s Rosé.

What drew me to this particular rosé is that it came with a set of instructions.

“Chill well, open with pizazz, tilt head back, drink, remember to breathe.”

Perfect.  I didn’t even need a glass. 

True to form, I deviated from the instructions and used glass. The world might be going to shit, but it’s not so bad that I’ll drink wine from the bottle on a park bench. I’m not 16. 

The aroma is of grapefruit, fresh raspberry and stone, like the scent of a rock, pulled from a river bed. It’s the scent you crave all winter but don’t know what it is until the spring when life is in the air again. I’d wear that scent if I could. 

At first, the palate is crisp and clean, but as it opens up it becomes more soft, buttery and heavy. The flavour profile is all red cherries to me, but what prevents it from crossing the line into intensely sweet is that underlying minerality that softens the sugars. There is something hard to detect in the finish, but if you linger long enough you will pick up on notes of fennel, like the aftertaste of liquorice tea. Subtle, but there.

It’s served best really chilled and is better paired with light flavours like soft cheese and prawns. Actually, I really prefer it on its own, which is why it’s become the unofficial wine of my COVID-19 quarantine experience. I’ve enjoyed it in the park, I’ve enjoyed it on my balcony, on my couch, at a two-person dance party in my apartment – disco lights included – and I’ve enjoyed it while writing this review as the sun sets on East Van. It’s been my little bit of sweet in a bitter time.