I hopped a jet and flew to California over Easter weekend. I've never seen it so green so early. The record breaking rains and floods earlier this year have produced early and vibrant bloom that you could see from the window of the plane as distinctly as from the ground. With sunshine and temp's in the 70's, it made for perfect rose wine weather. I happily rediscovered one of my favorite dry crisp pink wines from the south of France, the Gerard Bertrand. I visited the winery in the Languedoc in the spring of 2011. (I am sure I wrote about my adventures for the BRG Wine Scene, so if you search the data base for my columns from May and June 2011, they are probably there.) Bertrand is a former Rugby player and I remember having lunch with him in the gorgeous courtyard of the winery. It was a sprawling, resort-like facility with high-end amenities, sculpture and a gourmet restaurant. We tasted thru 14 wines that day including the rose. At the time, the GB wines were very limited in the US. Now you can find them virtually everywhere. Another bottle bonus, the bottom is shaped like a rose, which makes it a great gift for your Derby party. The Bertrand rose is a blend of several red wine grapes and offers enticing aromas of current and wild strawberry with a crisp dry mineral like finish.