June 4, 2025 – Experience Rosé, a wine competition that focuses exclusively on expressions of pink wine — sweet, dry and sparkling — has announced results of its 2025 contest. Taking top prize this year is a 2024 Rosé of Pinot Noir from Alta Orsa Winery in Hopland, Calif. Judges described it as “Delicate” and “enthusiastic,” with “bright acidity.”
Winemaker Martin Bernal-Hafner shares: “Our 2024 Orsa Rosé continues the tradition of elegance and precision of the Alta Orsa wines. Sourced from heritage, family-owned vineyards in the Russian River Valley, it’s crafted from Pinot Noir vines that are more than 30 years old. The result is a Provençal-style rosé with notes of rose water, pink grapefruit and tangerine sorbet. It finishes crisp, with a touch of salinity and refreshing natural acidity.”
He continues, “This rosé is one of our most anticipated releases each year, as it reflects our low-intervention farming and winemaking practices, and it resonates with both longtime members and new tasters.”
Now in its seventh year, Experience Rosé was founded to help curious consumers confidently explore this emergent fine wine category. “This competition is always a lot of fun,” says Debra Del Fiorentino, founder of Wine Competitions Management & Production, which presents the contest. “The range of colors, grape varieties and styles is always so wide
— it’s fun to sample through them all. The quality of the wines entered proves that rosé is a style to no longer be ignored.”
Says Bernal-Hafner, “Experience Rosé is one of the few competitions that truly celebrate the craft and complexity behind serious and intentional rosé winemaking. We entered because it’s a community that values nuance and expression in a category that is not always top of mind.”
Eligibility for this competition is open to any wine (U.S. or international) with the word “rosé” clearly included on its front or back labeling. Judges include winemakers, sommeliers, retail buyers, wine educators, and journalists.
About Wine Competitions Management & Production
Wine Competitions Management & Productions (WCMP) produces more than a dozen wine, cider and spirits competitions annually, each carefully designed to appeal to a niche market based on regionality or style of judging. Judges are internationally renowned and respected experts. For more information, visit our website.
EXPERIENCE ROSÉ BEST OF CLASS WINNERS
Best of the Best, Best Domestic Dry
Alta Orsa Winery 2024 Orsa Rosé of Pinot Noir (BOG, GG, 99 pts.)
Judges: “Delicate, enthusiastic”; “Bright acidity”
Best International Dry
Somnium 2024 Danica Rosé (BOG, GG, 96)
Judges: “Pure Provence: lilacs and lavender”
Best Native American / Hybrid Rosé
Elmaro Vineyards 2024 Sweet Cheeks Rosé (BOC, GG, 95)
Judges: “Watermelon, blood orange, strawberry”
Best Domestic Sparkling
Davis Family Vineyards 2021 Sparkling Rosé de Noir (BOC, GG, 98)
Judges: “Full bodied”; “Delicate for being such a big wine”; “Great texture”
Best Domestic; Varietal Dry < 2.5% rs
Sakura Vineyard and Winery 2024 Petit Verdot Rosé (BOC, GG, 97)
Judges: “True beauty”;” floral aromas”; “long finish”
Best Domestic; Blend Dry <2.51% rs
Cedergreen Cellars 2024 Viola Rosé Wine (BOG, GG, 96)
Judges: “Easy, delicate and naturally ripe”
Best International; Varietal Dry < 2.5% rs
Taylors Wines 2024 Estate Pinot Noir Rosé (BOC, G, 92)
Judges: “Ripe fruit”
Best Cider
Gowans Heirloom Rosé Cider (BOC, GG, 98)
Judges: “Great acid and structure”; Complex sweetness”; “Fresh clean style cider”
