Hachette Book Group Canada sent me Yes Way Rosé in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
If you’ve never been properly introduced to the splendour in the glass that is rosé, you’ll be in the pink with Yes Way Rosé: A Guide To the Pink Wine State of Mind by Erica Blumenthal and Nikki Huganir. Part pink wine primer, part lifestyle guide, it’s a smart and playful celebration of la vie en rosé.
The authors are longtime friends who developed a passion for the pink drink in 2011 when they worked together at a fashion and lifestyle magazine. Nights together on the town in NYC became much more rosey when they discovered their mutual love for the stuff; by the following summer it had become an obsession. They drank rosé almost exclusively (Erica nicknamed it “summer water”), delighted their friends with rosé puns and talked about it endlessly.
“We just couldn’t get past the fact that a drink could be simultaneously so delicious and so beautiful,” they write. “Plus, we could afford it. Rosé is accessible, even inexpensive, compared to a lot of wine, but it feels so luxurious and chic. Just the thought of rosé made us giddy. Without looking for it, we had found our drink and our calling.”
An Instagram account followed, and with it, notoriety. (Or notorieté, as they’d say.) Media outlets sought them out for their expertise, a wine company invited them to partner on a vintage (Summer Water became a bestseller); they launched an online store for their popular Yes Way Rosé totes and other merch; and in 2018, bottled their own bevvie, a classic Provençal-style rosé called Yes Way Rosé.
The book has four chapters: Our Storé; Rosé 101; Rosé Vibes Onlé; and Are You Readé to Parté? (Plus a bonus rosé astrologé and glossaré.)
Rosé 101 is just that: a primer covering everything from how and where rosé is made to tips on how to taste it. I came to the book knowing little (very little!) about wine and even less about rosé, so I appreciate the balance between straightforward and playful that prevents the chapter from getting too dry.
“Grape skins contain almost all of the fruit’s pigment, so the pink color of rosé comes from the amount of time the clear juice — made from the colorless pulp of a red grape — spends mingling with the skins. Whereas red wine is made by letting the juice and skins hang out together for a few weeks, or even months, which stains the juice a deep red shade, rosé is usually made with fewer than twenty-four hours of skin contact — a one-night stand, if you will — hence the gorgeous blushing hue that results.” — Erica Blumenthal and Nikki Huganir, Yes Way Rosé
Rosé Vibes Onlé is a celebration of la vie en rosé, from the colour’s explosion in popular culture to how to include more of it in your life. Erica and Nikki offer a list of top pink films to enjoy with rosé, tips on how to put your best hue forward on Instagram, and advice on how to chill (your rosé, naturallé).
“The unique qualities of rosé inspire endless joy. The color and taste, as well as how it’s made, served and sipped, symbolize an ideal pink-tinted dream world, where friendship and humor rule. In this blush universe, it’s often the little things that are cause for celebration. There are high fives all around when you find a shady parking spot at the beach, and then again when you easily find your car on the way out. Dance parties break out before you get to the dance party. Friends are empowered to build empires together over a glass of rosé.” — Erica Blumenthal and Nikki Huganir, Yes Way Rosé
The last chapter, Are You Readé to Parté?, includes recipes for cocktails, canapés, and other sweet and savoury dishes (like the Yes Way Céviché above) for all manner of fêtes: from a ladies’ night to a backyard bash and a cozy couch parté. Celebrating the end of an era or just the end of a week? Whatever the question, Yes Way Rosé is the answer.
Are you living your best life with rosé? Which pink drink do you recommend?
try small things 
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