Have a Glass of Rose
Rosé all day! Rosé has been around since the beginning of wine. In those times, red and white wine were made in fresher style with less skin contact to accent fruitiness. Hence, the red wines looked like Rosé! More skin contact gives red wine its darker color and tannin. The color of Rosé depends on how long the juice is in contact with the skins of the red grapes. Less contact and you have a beautiful light peach color. More contact and it starts turning pink, a bit more and you start to get a light red wine. It’s really fun is when a rusty colored grape like Pinot Gris is used, the skin contact with the juice developes into an orange wine.
Rosé has seen a grand resurgence in the last decade. Moving away from the sweet style of White Zin and all the replicas known as ‘Blush’ that were made in the 70’s and 80’s out of California. These days, Rosé is presented in a drier version expressing the delicate nuance of the fruit used, which I must say is, much more preferred. Some of these are sparkling too!
How is Rosé made? There are 3 ways to make Rosé. The majority is produced using red grapes with little or no skin contact, Maceration, to keep wine lighter in color. This is the classic method for areas like Provence and the Loire in France, and of course, Buckel Family Wine in Colorado. Sometimes red grapes will be put in a fermenter(juice, skins and all) where the slightly colored juice is drained off and fermented, this method is called Saignée, ‘bleeding’ in French. Lastly, white and red wine can be Blended to create a ‘pink’ wine. This method is not used so much, except for Champagne. Bubbles!
Let’s have a glass! The flavor most associated with Rosé is strawberry, lovely! There can also be some other delicate flavors of tart cherry, melon, rose petal, hibiscus and citrus. Rosé can also show the much argued over term, minerality and have some green flavors like chard or rhubarb. What should we eat with Rosé? Well the French nailed this one pairing it with bouillabaisse, a mediterranean fish stew including shellfish and Provençal herbs that originated in Marseille. Other Rosé pairings include, spring peas, asparagus, ham, roast chicken, salads, stone crabs, fish, cheese, turkey, pizza, french fries and doughnuts! Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Rosé with about any food or on its own. Rosé all day!