“Rosé” is a four-letter word for many Americans, but if you think about it so is the word “WINE” (and love, cash, date, glad, holy, cute, ruby and Spam!). The legacy of the sweet and cloying pink wine of the 1970s and 80s still has many people avoiding the delicious salmon and strawberry-colored wines of the modern era. Even if you are too young to remember the sweet Blush craze of the Nixon and Reagan years, your impression of the pink wines of summer may be that they are not wine for serious wine drinkers.
You don't have to be a four year old girl to like Pink
Rosé is a tough sell here in the wine shop. I do see the aging hipsters who drank the sweet stuff listening to Steely Dan and Duran Duran, and then there are the disapproving hoighty-toighties who saw the fashion in drinking Rosés while traveling abroad. I’ve also met those about to graduate from pale, pale lager into the greater wine world who find the pink sweetness a welcome “starter wine”, or gateway beverage. “Hey, this wine stuff isn’t too bad.”. There are also those like me whose seasonal order/disorder has them craving a raspberry and cherry scented wine whenever the summer sun shines. When they, like me, feel the heat and humidity the idea of a crisp, refreshing pink wine starts to sound very appealing.
But there are also those who just say NO! Is it snobbery? For whatever reason; a bad experience, a bad impression, a sense of self-consciousness or stereotype, some people dismiss the whole Rosé category.
“Mean people”. Now there’s a sort of category that one can readily dismiss in its entirety. But Rosé wine is a category full of different styles that should not be waved off without investigation and experimentation.
“Mean people”. Now there’s a sort of category that one can readily dismiss in its entirety. But Rosé wine is a category full of different styles that should not be waved off without investigation and experimentation.
Secondly, they don’t have to be soda pop sweet! These days it is easy to find a bone-dry, crisp rosé wine with fresh fruitiness that offers just about everything you could want in a summer sipper.
Quality rosé is so much more than watered-down red wine. The attractive strawberry color of the wine comes from the grape skins. Whether the wine grapes are black or white, the juice is (~99%) always white. While red wines macerate for extended periods with the skins, rosé has only a brief and fleeting affair, enough to pick up a faint hue and additional aromas and flavors.
The color is imbued into a Rosé in one of several ways.
The style you are unlikely to even encounter is made by blending red and white wines together. These include wines other than White Zinfandel; your basic sweet blush like Arbor Mist, etc. The few that I have tried were uninspiring and not at all helpful in advancing the cause (drink rosé!).
The more common method for making rosé, especially here in New World, is called “saignée”. "Boy, those French! They have a different word for everything." (credit: Steve Martin!) Often it is the case that rosé is a byproduct. During the early stages of making a red wine, to intensify flavors, a portion of the juice is bled off (saigner = to bleed). This juice has spent only minutes in contact with the dark grape skins so it has very little color. The pink juice that is removed is fermented separately to produce rosé – which may or may not result in a distinctive and enjoyable wine.
True world-class rosé is made purposefully, starting in the vineyard. If your primary intent is to first to make red wine then your grapes will be too ripe for good rosé. In warm climates like in California, blush wines can be too soft, sweet and dull because the grapes were simply too ripe. Rosé, much like crisp and aromatic white wines, requires harvesting the grapes earlier in an effort to retain fresh acidity. The grape juice is left to soak with the skins just long enough to extract the desired color and fruit character followed by cool fermentation in stainless steel. This preserves the bright berry fruit, melon and citrus aromas that we crave in hot weather.
You can find rosés made from many red grape varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Syrah, for example. Zinfandel blush may never go out of style, and why should it? That grape’s natural sweetness lends itself to a lusher style that does have its place, and many of today’s White Zins are balanced and pleasant. Oregon’s own Pinot Noir is a real star when made into a delicate pink, with more vibrant and enticing aromas than a candy store. Imagine a dry Pinot rosé with a nose reminiscent of Red Vines crossed with watermelon Jolly Ranchers!
France produces the world’s most emulated pinks, and the Southern Rhone and Provence regions are where rosé has its traditional home. Blended from the principle grapes of the region: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault (and others), these light-colored wines have richness, depth and spice. The rosés of Tavel and Provence are classically paired with Bouillabaisse (a regional fish stew). Never pass up an opportunity to enjoy this ever-so-European dining experience!
Real Men, and Women, drink Rosé
If it’s too sultry out for culinary adventurism, you should know that rosés sing next to a difficult wine/food pairing like eggs. Scramble a couple and top with some smoked salmon. Add a side salad with goat cheese and red onion, serve al fresco and you’ve got a simple yet elegant dinner.
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