We Tried 15 Wines Under $15: These Are the Best Rosé Wine Options
Updated: Apr. 22, 2024
Looking for the best rosé wine to fill your glass? So is our Test Kitchen! Our pros sampled 15 top brands to find the bottles worth another pour.
Our editors and experts handpick every product we feature. We may earn a commission from your purchases.
The second temps start to climb, wine lovers switch from their go-to reds to rosé. There’s just something so pleasant and summery about sipping on these blush-colored wines.
And with the best rosé wine in your glass, your average evening on the porch or picnic at the neighborhood park can have you feeling like you’re summering at your favorite vacation destination.
To get the most out of these moments, don’t settle for any budget bottle. Instead, follow our Test Kitchen’s recommendations for the best rosé wine options under $15. Our crew sipped 15 of these affordable options to find the ones worth uncorking. If you’re looking for something to gift your loved ones this season, check out these best wine gifts.
Best Sweet Rosé
Prophecy Rosé
For many, there’s nothing than sipping a sweet rosé on a summer evening. If this is your style, grab a bottle of Prophecy Rosé to enjoy on a warm Friday night.
As Deputy Editor Rachel Seis, a rosé fanatic, explains, this pale blush wine has some mineral notes on the nose, but this expands after taking a sip. This wine does have a slight minerality to it but there’s so much more including berry and peach notes as well as a bit of tartness.
Overall, this wine is on the sweeter side for rosés but you’ll find satisfying depth inside the bottle.
Best Dry Rosé
Josh Cellars Rosé
Prophecy may make our favorite sweet rosé, but when it comes to the dry side of the spectrum, you can’t beat Josh Cellars Rosé for the price.
This light-bodied California wine has a beautiful coral hue which looks stunning in our Test Kitchen-Preferred wine glasses. Taking a sip out of your stemware of choice, you’ll get some cool mineral flavors with some floral and fruity hints. Despite these notes of berry and nectarine, this rosé is on the slightly dry side.
This top rosé pick will pair perfectly with your go-to light summer meals like grilled fish and salads.
Best People-Pleasing Rosé
Cupcake Rosé
As we said, there are folks out there that prefer sweet wines and those that like their glass on the drier side. If you’re looking to please both camps (or just don’t know what your friends prefer), you can’t go wrong with Cupcake Rosé. This bottle has a bit of a silly name, but it’s a seriously good wine for the price (just $10).
At first blush, this wine smells fairly sweet—a bit like pink lemonade and also a bit like plum according to Annamarie Higley, Associate Editor here at Taste of Home. You’ll get those citrusy and stone fruit flavors as you take your first sip, but this Cupcake wine has a semi-dry finish which really helps to balance those sweeter flavors.
Because of this wine’s duality it’s not your typical rosé; that’s also what makes it a great choice to please any guest.
Best French Rosé
La Vieille Ferme Rosé
Don’t you just love it when you get more than you pay for? Like when you get bumped up to first class on your flight or even when order a dozen donuts and you get 13 in the box. You’ll get a similar feeling with La Vieille Ferme Rosé.
This French rosé runs about $10 but tastes like a much more expensive bottle. La Vieille Ferme’s rosé is incredibly light and refreshing, according to the Test Kitchen’s Sarah Tramonte. Tasting this wine, a blend of Cinsault, Grenache and Syrah grapes, you’ll get some crisp citrus notes like grapefruit as well as sea minerals.
La Vieille Ferme is semi-dry but is still easy to sip as you enjoy a summer day. After a glass, you’ll feel like you’re vacationing in the French countryside not too far from the ocean.
Best Budget Rosé
Dark Horse Rosé
We know that this test is all about wines under $15, but what if you want to spend even less—say half as much? You can! One of our favorite bottles, Dark Horse Rosé, runs about $7 a bottle.
Dark Horse’s blush wine is crisp with just the right amount of bright acidity. It gives notes of strawberry, melon and sweet cherries. “But it’s not too fruity or dry—right down the middle; it’s an easy drinker,” says Rachel. On a hot summer evening or after a long week at work, what more could you ask for than that?
If you want to enjoy this wine at the beach or pool without worrying about the glass bottle, you can also get cans of Dark Horse Rosé (and lots of other great canned wines as well).
What to Look For When Buying the Best Rosé Wine
There are three major factors to consider the next time you visit your local wine shop:
- Color: Rosé wines should be pleasantly blushy. While color won’t make or break a wine (it is all about the flavor), wines that have that just-right rosy hue are most welcome.
- Aroma: When you swirl wine in your glass, it should smell inviting. Notes of the wine—be they fruity, floral, mineral or otherwise—should come through.
- Flavor: This is, as always, the most important factor in these tests. Rosés can vary in flavor from quite sweet to semi-dry. All are welcome at our tasting table, but in the end they should be refreshing and pleasant.
Why You Should Trust Us
Our Test Kitchen team is made up of seasoned professionals who take their food (and wine!) seriously. They also come from a variety of culinary backgrounds, from food magazines and blogs, to celebrating cooking schools, to restaurant and catering kitchens.
How We Tested Rosé Wine
As with all our other taste tests, our team of culinary pros sipped these wines blindly to avoid any biases. On a summer afternoon, our team swirled and sampled 15 different wines with the basics in mind, considering flavor, aroma and flavor in equal measure. Just five got their highest praise and the right to be called Test Kitchen-Preferred.
FAQ
What kind of wine is rosé?
Rosé wine is a pink-hued wine that strikes a perfect balance between the richness of reds and the crispness of whites. It’s made from a variety of grapes and can range from sweet to dry. Rosé comes in three varieties: still, semi-sparkling or sparkling.
Is rosé wine sweet or dry?
When it comes to rosé wines, there’s a wonderful array to explore! You’ll find some that are delightfully sweet, while others lean towards the drier side. Those crafted in Europe often have a timeless, bone-dry taste, while American and Austrailian rosés have a sweeter twist, brimming with juicy fruit flavors. It’s all thanks to the unique climates and techniques used in their production.
Originally Published: August 09, 2022
