PROTEA ROSE 2024, South Africa

The strawberry and watermelon notes hit right away, making this a perfect pairing for my crab salad last weekend. It’s dry but has enough fruit to keep it interesting, and the bottle didn’t last long at dinner.

Cracked this open with Thai spring rolls on a hot evening, and the watermelon-cherry zip cut through the heat perfectly. It's dry but juicy, not sweet, and the blood orange zest keeps every sip feeling bright.

Opened this with Thai spring rolls and the dry finish cut right through the spice—the watermelon and cherry came through clean without any sweetness. Chilled it for twenty minutes and it stayed lively to the last glass.