Rosé: Back from the Wilderness
Finally, after a couple of decades languishing on the ‘B’ list, a glass of rosé has become fashionable again. When white zinfandel flooded the market in the early eighties, pink wine garnered a reputation for being tooty fruity and sickly sweet—one step above Boone’s Farm Strawberry—and the stigma has stuck to blush wines to this day. But now more and more wine fans are discovering what aficionados of blush wines have known for centuries: pink doesn’t necessarily mean sweet. So the popularity of the versatile rosé has returned.
The biggest difference between common white zinfandel and rosé comes down to dryness. Rosé is fermented for longer, meaning grape sugars have more time to convert into alcohol and carbon dioxide (the lower the alcohol level the sweeter the wine; generally wines with an alcohol content of 11% or above will be dry on the palate). Another difference: most rosés will spend more time in contact with the grape skins during the winemaking process than will their sweeter white zinfandel cousins. This has two benefits: more time on the grape skins makes rosé a deeper red in color, and also results in more fruit flavor being extracted from the grape. If the wine is then put through fermentation while still in contact with the skins it will become a red wine. If the skins are removed, voila: Rosé.
Many rosé wines are made by the Saignée method. This is when a portion of the juice is pumped off the top of the fermentation tank after a short soaking time on the skins. The juice at the top of the tank—the freshest—is pumped into a separate stainless steel fermentation tank. The wine then goes through a slow fermentation that allows it to retain its crisp fruit characteristics.
A good example of the Saignée process is the Adelsheim Pinot Noir Rosé ($15) from the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Its red berry aromas and flavors are an excellent match for seafoods—especially salmon. Equally delicious from France is the Jaboulet Parellele 45 Rosé ($13), a blend of Rhône Valley grenache, cinsault and syrah grapes. Lightly fruited, this wine makes a refreshing summer crowd pleaser whose tangy lime notes and red cherry and raspberry flavors qualify it as a great poolside accompaniment. From California’s Sonoma County, recommended is Pedronelli Dry Rosé of Pinot Noir and Toad Hollow Dry Rosé of Pinot Noir (both $13). Both wines are harvested at peak ripeness with a focus on crispness and red berry flavors. Pedroncelli has been producing this wine since 1954 and has never followed trends. I recommend it alongside everything from burgers to red beans with smoked ham hocks.
You might be surprised to learn that rosés are produced in almost every wine region all over the world. So from Italy I like to recommend Montepulciano d’Abruzzo “Cerasulo” ($15) from Valle Reale. This wine is 100% Montepulciano grape and sports a striking rosé color. Bursting with ripe strawberry aromas and red fruit flavors, this is a great match to pasta salads with sundried tomatoes and Italian meats. From northern Italy’s Piedmont region, La Scolca’s Rosa Chiara ($16) is made from a unique blend of the white cortese grape (95%) and pinot noir (5%). The cortese imparts a soft floral character, while the pinot noir brings the color and rose petal character.
All of which to say, there is an abundant selection of rosés to be found in the market these days. So get over pink wine phobia and chill one down today.
Steve Staples has been encouraging the enjoyment of wine in Baton Rouge for twenty-five years. By day a rep with Glazer’s Companies of Louisiana, by night Steve teaches several wine appreciation classes as part of the LSU Leisure Classes program.