Casey Barber’s back story as it relates to wine makes little sense . . . until you have a sit-down conversation with her. Then it’s easy to grasp how she became one of the world’s least likely vintners, although perhaps a more appropos description of her seems to be “entrepreneur.”

But suggest that to her and she laughs out loud.

“Me? I’d never thought of myself as any kind of business person,” Barber insists. “That’s not me.”

Uh, we beg to differ. Barber doesn’t actually make Rose Gold, her Côtes-de-Provence rosé that has become one of Texas’ most popular summer sippers over the past five years and now has a foothold in 38 states with, by her count, 850 total store shelf placements in 38 states after recent big-deal sales to Targets and Total Wine outlets. The Omni Hotels made it their house rosé pour nationally last summer. Chef Charles Clark, who has become a good buddy, struggles to keep it in stock at his Brasserie 19 resto on West Gray.

Barber’s sales skills are impressive, especially considering that marketing is another self-taught, by- the-seat-of-her-blue-jeans skill set. Now 45, she studied nursing at the University of Texas-Tyler and assumed, at least early on, that her life’s work would revolve around health care.     

Growing up country in Palestine, Texas, she had never tasted pink wine save for her mom’s white zinfandel until she went on her honeymoon to Provence in her mid-twenties.  Subsequently, their marriage became a whirlwind of food- and wine-centric adventures. She confesses that they stalked Michelin-starred chefs at every turn, from Manhattan to Europe’s foody meccas.  

Well, at least until in her early 30s when she gave birth to three beautiful children over a span of four years. Sadly, not long thereafter she and her husband split up. But from those lemons poured forth gallons of lemonade, pardon the mixed beverage metaphor.

“I’ve said this a thousand times,” Barber admitted. “My marriage didn’t last, but my love of rosé did.”

It was as a twentysomething newlywed on her honeymoon, not so far from where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie also thought they’d found their personal paradise with the purchase of Miraval, that she first tasted Provençal rosé at a café on the outskirts of Cannes. It was love at first sip – and sight. (Fortunately, Barber and her ex didn’t go down “Brangelina’s” nasty divorce path. Today they live “down the street from each other” in a leafy Dallas neighborhood and are coping with co-parenting duties just fine.)

“I can still picture it in my mind today, these tanned and beautiful French people, all of them drinking this wonderful pink wine morning, noon and night,” Barber recalled, wistfully. “I was immediately enthralled. Once you’ve been bitten by the food and wine bug, there’s no going back. It wasn’t a world I’d known nothing about before then, but Pandora’s box had opened.”

Still, it’s a giant leap from sipping somebody’s else vino as a stay-at-home single mother of three to hitting the streets and convincing prominent restaurants and retailers to listen you, Ms. Nobody, as you try to explain to them why they must carry your pink wine, a pink wine they’ve never heard of.

Being the first to admit she didn’t know what she didn’t know, however, Barber plowed bravely forth nonetheless, first finding a boutique production venue in St. Tropez to partner with – “I can only imagine what they were saying behind my back in French when I first came steamrolling in with my big ideas,” she said – and then bravely schlepping a Yeti full of wine from one resto to the next across Dallas, her proverbial hat in hand.

At least many of the sommeliers/managers she visited already knew her as a customer. Barber’s engaging personality and gorgeous countenance aren’t easily forgotten. As the cliche goes, she could have sold ice to Eskimos. But COVID-19 forced her to focus more on retail sales and, as the stats above would indicate, she keeps gaining more and more traction.    

A 50-50 blend of grenache and cinsault, Rose Gold is both wonderfully evocative of sunny Provence and offers excellent value (under $18 at Spec’s/Richard’s cash price). The clean, elegant, raised-letter label – her design, of course – turns heads. So does the name, which evolved from her love for rose-hued gold jewelry.

“It’s the only kind I wear,” she said.  “I knew somebody in the wine business and started batting around my naming idea with him. He gave me a 30-minute spiel about names and labels, but I told him I already had one. ‘What?’ he asked. ‘Rose Gold, I told him.’ He thought about it for a moment, then said, “Hey, that’s good, really good.”

Production of Rose Gold has doubled every year since the first vintage – 2017 – and has now reached 13,000 cases, with presumably greater quantities coming in the future, to keep up with demand. Fortunately, the Côtes-de-Provence has a bountiful supply of grapes. Those that go into Rose Gold come from vines around Cuers in the Var some 10 miles inland from Toulon with production at Maitres Vignerons Saint-Tropez.

Her winemaker? Florian Lacroux, the boss vintner at Saint-Roch-les-Vignes, and the man who brought Fleur de Mer to market for E. J. Gallo.

Barber, you see, didn’t try to re-invent the wheel. Rather, she simply reinvented herself. Now, if she could only clone herself, too. Barber remains a one-woman band.

“I could use 20 of me,” she said, laughing.  

The hard work notwithstanding, the rewards speak for themselves. A huge ancillary benefit of being the woman behind Rose Gold is how many new friends she has made schlepping her wine. Clark for one, as previously mentioned. And she never doesn’t have a glass or two with Ruggles Black proprietor Neera Parador, another loyal supporter, when she’s in Houston (That’s Casey pictured above at the Ruggles Black bar) .

“You meet unbelievably cool people wherever you go – restaurant owners, chefs, bar managers, sommeliers. Barber said. “I’ve added hundreds of contacts in my phone. Some of my nearest and dearest friends today are because of Rose Gold. They tell me, ‘You’re great and your juice is good.’ Hey, that’s where the rubber meets the road.”

But nothing feels more satisfying, or makes her prouder, than when the kids come home wide-eyed from the grocery store and say, breathlessly, “Mom, guess what? They had a big display of your wine.’ There’s  another level of emotion involved when your children can see and appreciate what you’re doing.”

Barber flies a lot, to say the least. Because, she says, “I always get cold” (and it’s also good marketing) on planes, Barber’s travel top of choice is a Rose Gold sweatshirt. Recently, while “zoning out” on the tarmac to take off from somewhere – “I think it was New Orleans,” she said. “We sell a bunch there.” – a woman lugging a carry-on down the aisle startled her by stopping and saying, “Hey, that’s my favorite wine!”

Flashing a Texas-sized smile, Barber replied, “Mine, too.”           

H-town Happenings

Free Tastings every Saturday: Noon-5 p.m. at French Country Wines. http://frenchcountrywines.com

Free Tastings every Wednesday: 5-7 p.m. at Montrose Cheese & Wine

Tastings every Thursday at Cueva in the Marriott Marquis Houston: 6:30-7:30 p.m. every Thursday. $40 http://eventbrite.com

Pinor Noir Tasting: 5:30-7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 15, at We Olive & Wine Bar. $35-$140. http://eventbrite.com

Free Tasting: 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 15, at Roma. 713 664-7581

Stella’s Wine Games: 7 p.m. Tuesdays at Stella’s Wine Bar in the Post Oak Hotel. $50. http://www.thepostoakhotel.com/restaurants/Stellas-Wine-Bar/Stella-Wine-Games.asp

Cheers for Charity Benefiting Second Chances: 4-7 p.m. Saturday at Red Oak Ballroom at Norris Conference Center. $75-$125 http://eventbrite.com

JMP Wine Night Featuring Hope Family Wines: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 24. $75 http://eventbrite.com

SERCA Gran Corte Vertical Tasting: 4-6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, at the SERCA Tasting Room. SERCA Wines – Upcoming Events $80 ($64 members)

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