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Historians generally agree that wine has been produced for almost 8,000 years, and as long as there has been wine, there has been rosé. European rosé has been in the news of late as the European Union passed and then dropped legislation to allow for white wines blended with a little red to be called rosé.
There are three basic ways that rosé is made. The finest rosés are produced from red grapes with limited skin contact with the juice. Red grapes are crushed and the skins removed after two or three days leaving a pink hue to the juice as fermentation continues. The skins contain the red pigment, tannins and a lot of the flavor of red wine. Rosés produced in this fashion yield a wine with the bright fruit flavors of red wine but not the color or body.
Rosé is also produced by a technique known as Saignée. In this method, the winemaker bleeds off some pink juice from the fermenting red wine to impart more color and flavor into the remaining juice. The Saignée is then fermented separately.
The third method, as mentioned earlier, is the blending of a little red wine into white. It is frowned upon by finer wine producers but is an accepted practice in Champagne. The best Champagne producers, however, use one of the other methods.
Rosé has historically been a dry wine but that changed in the ‘60s and ‘70s with the popularity of the Portuguese Rosés Lancers and Mateus and the beginnings of the white zinfandel craze here in the States. These wines were produced to help sell the juice of slower moving red wine and generally had a residual sugar level around 2.5 percent. This “blush” phenomenon made it difficult to sell the finer dry rosé wines from France because consumers thought all rosés were sweet.
A resurgence of dry rosé began about a decade ago, and now the beginning of summer coincides with the release time of the new vintage of rosé. With few exceptions, rosés should be drunk as young as possible. They are prized for their fresh fruit aromas and flavors. The 2008’s are now on the market and will offer delightful drinking over the next year or two. A young rosé is perfect for a picnic in the park or a glass in your backyard. The red fruit flavors allow it to be served chilled and stand up well to chicken, salmon and tuna.
Good rosé can be produced almost anywhere in the world, but the finest seem to come from warmer climates and from heat loving grape varieties like grenache and syrah. These regions include the Rhone Valley and Provence in France, much of Spain and warmer regions in California like Paso Robles.
Perhaps the most famous rosé wine region is Tavel. Philip IV of France supposedly travelled through Tavel on one of his tours of the kingdom in the 13th century. He was reportedly offered a glass that he emptied without getting off his horse; afterwards he proclaimed Tavel the only good wine in the world. Located in the southern Rhone Valley of France, Tavel produces only rosé wines from grenache, cinsault, syrah and mourvedre. The wines are delicate salmon in color with excellent body and structure for rosé.
Equally famous is the large region of Provence located in the south of France along the Mediterranean Sea. It is in this large AOC (Appellation d’origine controlee) that three regions stand out for their very high quality rosé production. They are Côtes de Provence, Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence and Bandol. In these regions carignane and mourvedre are used along with grenache and syrah to produce the distinctive, full flavored rosé wines.
Below are my current favorite rosés, listed in order of ascending price. These will all offer excellent drinking for this summer and beyond.
Cuvee de Pena Rosé 2008 ($9)
This delightful value hails from the French side of the Pyrenees Mountains in the Languedoc Roussillon Region. It has a deep strawberry red color and bursts from the glass with delightful strawberry aromas. This superb value has a gorgeous mouth-feel, loads of red fruit flavors, and a plump, well-balanced personality.
QUO Grenache Rosé 2008 ($10)
This is a gorgeous 100 percent grenache from Campo de Borja, near Rioja in north eastern Spain. It is deep red in color; I’ve seen red wines lighter than this, with tons of ripe berry fruit, black cherry and cassis flavors that lead to fine structure and balance in the finish. This satin-textured wine is, simply put, a great rosé!
Chateau Roustan Costieres de Nimes Rosé 2008 ($10)
This delicious Costieres de Nimes Rosé is a blend of grenache and syrah. Its delicate, light ruby/salmon color is followed by gorgeous aromas of candied strawberries intermixed with raspberries and cherries. This light to medium-bodied dry rosé possesses admirable weight as well as structure. It is a fascinating effort to drink this year.
le Rosé de Chateau Puygueraud 2008 ($14)
A unique wine from the Côtes de Francs in Bordeaux, it is a blend of merlot and cabernet franc. Light strawberry in color with bright floral notes and spice from the cabernet franc, this wine is eminently suited to grilled salmon and salad with goat cheese. It wouldn’t be bad by itself either!
Domaine du Vieil Aven Tavel Rosé 2008 ($15)
This single Domaine Tavel is a blend of grenache, cinsault and syrah. It possesses intense watermelon and strawberry notes intermixed with hints of pepper and spice. Dry, full-bodied and crisp with superb purity as well as stunning intensity, this beauty can be enjoyed for at least two more years.
Commanderie de la Bargemone Coteaux d’Aix Provence Rosé 2008 ($15)
Light pink in color with great minerality, it exhibits crisp, dry, strawberry and cherry flavors, as well as surprising texture and intensity. Enjoy this crowd-pleaser by itself or with barbecue, Asian, Indian or Indonesian cuisine over the next year. Bargemone makes one of the best dry rosés around.
Chateau de Lancyre Pic Saint-Loup Rosé 2008 ($17)
Consistently one of my favorites, don’t let the pale pink color fool you. This full bodied rosé has weight and character. Pic Saint-Loup is considered the finest AOC in the Coteaux du Languedoc, and it shows in this stunning rosé. It possesses perfectly balanced red fruits along with pear and honey. It has a silken texture, excellent mouthfeel and a long crisp finish. You will enjoy your summer twice as much with a case of this rosé on hand.
Domaines Ott Bandol Rosé 2007 Chateau de Selle ($45)
Produced primarily from mourvedre, this very pale rosé is near perfection. It is delicate and full at the same time. Peaches blossom from the glass along with pear and pepper. The palate is beautifully balanced with passion fruit, peach and rosewater. The finish is long and lingering. Simply delicious!
Wine of the Month
Quo Grenache Red 2008 ($10)
I recommended the rosé in this article, and as good as it is, the red is really a spectacular wine. This delightful summer quaffer is very young, vibrant and fruity with black cherry and blackberry aromas that stimulate the senses. On the palate, the black fruit flavors meld beautifully with pepper and spice. The fat, rich mouthfeel leads to a pleasant finish. This may be the finest $10 red I have tasted this year. Buy it by the case! |
