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My good friends Jennifer and Ian Hastie used to own a boat and for a
couple of summers, we would go out to Lake Lewisville and ride around the
boat for the afternoon. In between the times where Ian (the driver) would
sling me haphazardly across the choppy lake whilst I was holding on to an
inflated inner tube for dear life, we would spend time relaxing on the boat
and in the hot Texas sun. This of course always included some cool
beverages with alcohol in them. I personally had to consume something that
was going to bolster up my courage to get back out there on that tube
again! I would venture to say that for 95 % of Americans that are having
fun in a boat on the lake, that beverage of choice would be a beer. But for
me, beer dehydrates me more quickly than other alcoholic beverages and in
the hot sun that is a recipe for disaster. No for me, nothing says summer
quite the way a crisp and refreshing dry Rose wine does. Cool and
refreshing and quite complementary with the sandwich style foods we
brought aboard Ian’s ship. I guess the Rose of choice was from Marques
de Caceres in Rioja, Spain. It is a refreshing rose wine made from the
Tempranillo grape.
Let me get this out of the way, right off the bat. We are not talking about
White Zinfandel or White Merlot, blush wines or any other wine that starts
off with the word White in front of it. This is an unfortunate misconception
that a great deal of consumers have regarding Rose wines and one of the
chief reasons they avoid them. The crowd that buys the sickly sweet blush
wines are turned off by the dryness of most Rose wines and the wine snobs
are too busy ignoring good Rose wines because they do not take them
seriously. Well I’m here to tell you, that their loss is our gain. Don’t be one
of those close-minded pinheads.
It is difficult to accurately describe Rose wines because there are no set
rules to making them. When one wants to know about a Pinot Noir wine,
they learn about the characteristics of the Pinot Noir grape. Rose wines
though can be made from just about any old red grape style and believe me,
even if you though it was impossible to make a Rose out of some grape
varietals, I guarantee you that some winemaker has tried it. California
wineries are beginning to take Rose wines more seriously and the quality of
the Rose wines coming from California is getting better and better. This is
given notice by the increase of Rose wines on restaurant wine lists.
Californian versions still tend to be a bit sweeter than the old world styles
though. If California can ever get out from under the dark and ominous
White Zinfandel cloud, they could really make an impact in the wine market
with Rose wines.
There is still no question that Europeans are the best Rose wine producers,
especially the French. I would go as far as to include Spain up there with
France because they have, lately anyway, really taken Rose wines
seriously. But it is France that has tradition on their side and a great deal of
Rose wines from various wine regions to choose from, especially southern
France. Some of the more famous Rose wine regions in France would
include, Tavel (located in Rhone), Marsannay (Burgundy), the Loire Valley
(more well known for Sauvignon Blanc), Alsace (where German varietals
thrive), Beaujolais and Provence where great examples of Rose wines such
as “Bandol” come from. In fact, Kermit Lynch, the great French Wine
Importer heralded the “Bandol” Rose wine from Domaine Tempier as the
greatest Rose wine in the world. We will be tasting that Rose this month in
our Monthly Tasting Report, so we will see if we agree with him. The
grapes the French use to make their Rose wines are usually Grenache in
the south, Pinot Noir in Marsannay, Gamay in Beaujolais, and Cabernet
Franc in the Loire Valley.
In Spain, you will find that the majority of Rose wines come from Catalonia,
Navarra and Rioja and most are made from the Tempranillo grape although
a lot are made from Garnacha (Grenache) too. Italy uses so many different
grape varietals to make Rose from I couldn’t even begin to list them all.
Just about every region in Italy takes a stab at a Rose wine.
Europe isn’t the only place in the world making Rose wines. You can find
excellent examples from South Africa, Argentina, Canada, Australia and
obviously California. Even Texas makes its fair share of Rose wines and it
is something that they are doing pretty well. The grape varietal used most
often to make Rose wines in all these countries is Grenache and then
probably Pinot Noir. These grape varietals make sense because they are
already lighter styles of wine to begin with. However, these are by no
means the only styles that winemakers are using and I have even seen
examples from big tannic grape varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah
and Nebbiolo. Carol Shelton from California makes a fantastic version from
Red Zinfandel grapes.
You are probably thinking that with the boom of White Zinfandel and other
blush wines from California in the 70’s and 80’s that Rose wines are a
relatively recent phenomenon, but nothing could be further from the truth.
It was the ancient Greeks that first introduced Rose wines to the world. I’m
sure they didn’t call them Rose wines, the term “Rose” is a French word
that means “Pink”. The Greeks were not necessarily enamored with the
taste of Rose wines as much as they were with the color. The pinkish color
of these wines appealed to the artistically inclined Greeks. Sissy boys!
Rose wines are made in an almost similar fashion as white wines are made.
The only difference is that the wine juice (which is clear even in red grapes)
is allowed to ferment shortly with the grape skins just long enough for them
to impart a touch of color resulting in wines that are pale pink, salmon or
even an onion skin color. This short contact with the grapes skins, usually
just a few hours, imparts a little extra flavor, but very little harsh tannins
known to be in most red wines. This also means that Rose wines are not
wines to keep for more than a year. They do not age well in your wine
cellar. Drink them young.
The flavor profile of most Rose wines, although almost always served
chilled like white wines, resembles more like the red wine grapes used to
make them, but less complex and more light and fruity than traditional red
wines. I often find a strong presence of strawberries or raspberries in Rose
wines and almost never darker fruits. I have even tasted watermelon in a
Rose wine. Because they are dry and crisp, they make excellent food
wines, especially with foods that are not normally served with wine. Tangy
barbecues, juicy hamburgers with ketchup, hot wings, spicy things or sweet
things, Rose wines make an interesting pair with them all. And I should
point out, they tend to be very affordable, in fact, you can find very good
ones that are priced well under $10.00.
Not all wines that are labeled Rose are cheap however. The lone exception
would be Rose Champagne’s from the great Domaine’s in France. These
can be some of the rarest and most expensive wines in the world. They are
also the greatest expression of what experienced winemakers can do with a
Rose wine. I’d get into Rose Champagne’s more, but that is a topic for a
whole other discussion.
Its summer time in Texas and that means hot weather. If you are someone
that prefers red wines to white, but find it just to hot to enjoy them, give a
Rose wine a shot. It is a perfect alternative to white wine and beer and a
must for any serious picnic. It comes in a variety of flavors and colors and
is always refreshing to drink. It is certainly a much better food wine than
you would imagine. I guess you could think of Rose wines as the perfect
beverage to beat the heat.
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