Bring On The Rosè

Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer, is near, with lots of warm (and hot) weather to follow. You’ll be spending a lot more time in front of the grill, but the red wines those burgers want, might seem an unappealing partner when it’s 95⁰. There is a resolution to this problem – Rosé – red-grape fruit that’s best served chilled.

It is important to note that White Zinfandel is not a typical Rosé wine, and the reason it is not typical is that White Zinfandel is sweet. The Rosé wines discussed here are bone dry – but, many will be “fruity.”

“Fruity” and “sweet” are two different things, and as descriptors of wine, these two terms are never interchangeable. Sweet wines have high levels of residual sugar. Your typical Rosé does not. However, some, while very dry, do display more intense fruit character than others. If fruity is not for you, and you prefer wines with more muted fruit notes, no worry, it will not be difficult to find a Rosé you love.

There are three ways to produce Rosé wines: skin contact, saignée, and blending. Blending red wine with white wine to produce Rosé is seldom used. Saignée – a subject for another time. The Rosé wines you are likely to find and buy are made with the skin contact method.  

The juice of many red wine grapes is either clear or very pale. Generally, in the production of red wine the juice remains in contact with its skins for several days to several months, the skins darkening the juice, and adding tannin. This part of the winemaking process is known as maceration. In the production of Rosé wines, the maceration period is limited to less than one day – sometimes it’s as little as two hours. The length of the maceration affects the hue of the Rosé – with the palest wines having the shortest maceration periods. Since the color is determined by a process (rather than the varietal), you can use just about ANY red grape to produce a Rosé wine, and producers around the world do.

“Rosé,” as a term, comes from France, and that designation is applied to those pink wines produced in the United States as well; but in Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries, it is called “Rosado,” while in Italy, it is called “Rosato.” Regardless of the linguistics, it’s all the same – just the grapes are different.

A great many of the Rosés sold here come from the Southern Rhone region of France, notably Provence, whose reputation as a wine producing region is largely based on its fine Rosés. These wines are predominately Grenache based, with Syrah, Cinsault and Mourvedre playing a supporting role.  

Sancerre, in the Loire Valley of France, produces Rosés of Pinot Noir that tend to be a little pricey, but delicious. Pinot Noir is the preferred varietal of many US producers of Rosé as well, although checking the label of a domestic Rosé is always a good idea. Rosé of Pinot Noir tends to be quite fruity.  

When it comes to Rosé, experiment with reckless abandon as the world of Rosé is as varied as the world of red wine. One discovery you will quickly make, is that there’s a lot of fine Rosé at incredibly modest prices. We like Whispering Angel and Domaine Ott, and will sell you as much as you want, but if you want to stretch your wine dollars, try some of these exceptional values: Domaine de la Sanglière 2018 VdP Rosé ‘Juliette’ ($9.98); J-L Colombo 2018 VdP Rosé ‘Cape Bleu’ ($11.98); two from Côteaux d’Aix en Provence – Pigoudet 2018 Rosé ($10.98) and Domaine Bagrau 2018 Rosé ‘Club 44’ ($13.98); Maison Saleya 2017 Côtes de Provence Rosé ($14.98) ; and finally Pascal Jolivet 2018 Sancerre Rosé ($19.98).

It would not be terribly surprising if you liked some of these more than the Angel or the Ott. When it comes to Rosé there is no reason to overpay. Summer, here we come! Cheers!