Is there anything more romantic or evocative of summer than sipping a well-chilled glass of rosé by the water?
That’s the idea behind the Rosé Garden, a 30-seat patio adjacent to seafood restaurant and raw bar Whaley’s in Washington, DC’s Navy Yard.
“This [is] a great opportunity for guests to experience and taste lesser-known varietals from all over the world,” says Brian Zipin, wine and beverage director for the restaurant.
The garden, wrapped in tropical plants and adorned with retro white metal tables and pink-striped umbrellas, offers a rotating selection of 10 to 12 rosés by the bottle priced $30 to $60, and three or four by the glass priced $9 to $15.
Standouts including the Hondarrabi Zuri Rubentis Txakoli from Spain ($48 a bottle), with tart red fruit and a slight carbonation that go well with spicy tuna n’duja with olive oil crostini; and Ripe Life Wines Clambake from California ($40 a bottle), which is bursting with summer red fruit and citrus, along with great acidity and dryness that make it a no-brainer with a jumbo lump crab roll with pickled pearl onions and Old Bay chips.
Guests are starting to understand that some rosés benefit from time in the bottle, and that you don’t always have to drink the current vintage, according to Zipin and Rosé Garden spirits and bar manager Nick Miller.
The Rosé Garden also offers rotating frozen rosé cocktails for $14. And at Whaley’s next door you can order the ever-popular #1 Cocktail ($13), with sparkling rosé, St. Germaine, white rum and grapefruit juice.
