Dark Rosés
Vintage image sourced on Pinterest
Rosé in winter, whaaaaat? I know, it’s an unusual take. But winter is exactly when dark rosés should be a go-to part of your repertoire, especially once the holiday indulgences are over and meals shift back toward balance. With, you know, vegetables other than potatoes. We’re well into that curry, soup and stew-y time of year, and it’s also the season for brassicas like cabbage, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts and kale, which aren’t known for being the easiest wine pairing-wise.
Enter: dark rosés, the Swiss Army knives of wine selections, sitting somewhere between a rosé and a light red wine. There’s room on your table for wines whose color ranges from beet juice purple to candy-bright pink-fuchsia to almost-a-light-red-wine. The ones you might be afraid to pick up off the shelf, for fear that they’ll be sweet or unpopular. This tasting is for those wines.
Stuff to know
Growing up in the US, the only dark rosé I knew for most of my life was the infamous White Zinfandel. When I snuck sips before I could legally drink, I thought it was delicious. Much, much later, after I’d been legal for at least a decade and had finally learned a thing or two about wine, I bought a White Zinfandel just to see what it tasted like as an adult. My thoughts: Twizzlers and Watermelon Jolly Ranchers. I couldn’t drink more than a few sips, even though I will still say yes to a bag of movie theater Twizzlers.
Suffice it to say that while I respect the role White Zin has played in America’s wine history, it’s not exactly my top choice wine-wise. White Zin has also deterred thousands from trying other darkly-colored rosés, for fear that they’re all just as sweet and simple as White Zin. And if you’re not from the US or are from a different generation than I am, you might feel the same way thanks to Mateus or Rosé d’Anjou.
While there isn’t anything wrong with sweetness in a wine (check out some classic sweet wines in Wine for Dessert, for example), the misperception that all dark rosés are sweet and simple hasn’t done the style any favors. But the color of a rosé really doesn’t tell you anything about its quality, so I think it’s high time dark rosés get some love.
There are dark rosés being made all over the world, from Spain, Italy and France to Australia, the US and Chile to Sardinia, Greece, the Canary Islands and even India and Lebanon. I chose traditional styles for this tasting not because I want to limit you, but because the styles included here are some of the most defined and well-known, making them easier to find in most countries and dependably consistent.
My intent for this tasting is to encourage you to branch out from the pale pink watermelon water most closely associated with the heights of summer into bolder, brighter and darker rosés, so if you enjoy this tasting, please continue exploring beyond the wines included here.
If you’d like to read more about how different rosés are made, check out Rosé Essentials.
What to look for in this tasting
Ok, so the color of a rosé doesn’t determine its taste or quality, but dark rosés are still usually richer, fuller-bodied, bolder and riper fruit flavor-wise than pale rosés. Their dark color can come from the vinification technique used to make the wine, often leaving the grape skins in contact with the juice for longer periods of time, but also from the grape variety or varieties in the blend. There may or may not be significant tannins or flavors from oak aging in these wines too. The aromas and flavors can include everything from ripe raspberries, rhubarb, cherries and blood oranges to fresh herbs like lavender, oregano, thyme and mint to olives, tomatoes, clay pots and fresh-turned earth. Some rosés that have undergone malolactic fermentation or oak-aging may have soft, creamy textures or flavors of cinnamon and cedar.
Whatever your preconceptions of dark rosés may be, please just try to suspend judgement for this tasting and consider what you actually like. Ignore the color, drink out of darkly-tinted wine glasses, do whatever works for you, as long as you’re smelling and tasting with an open mind.
The wines
#1: Tavel Rosé
Ernest Hemingway, oft considered one of the manliest of men (whatever that really means…), supposedly drank a bottle of Tavel rosé every day with his lunch. Take that however you will. Whether Hemingway’s endorsement sways you or dissuades you, it’s worth considering that Tavel has been producing famous rosés for hundreds of years. King Philip IV is claimed to have called Tavel’s rosé the “only good wine in the world.” About 400 years later, the Sun King, Louis XIV endorsed Tavel too. You could say that Tavel has enjoyed some good press.
In the Southern Rhône, just outside of Avignon, Tavel is a small town surrounded by the wine region dedicated entirely to rosé. The 9 grapes approved for Tavel include some of the usual Southern Rhône suspects: Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre, alongside Carignan, Cinsault and Clairette. Typically, producers of Tavel allow the grapes’ skins to remain in contact with the juice before fermentation for between 10 hours up to a day or two, creating wines whose color ranges from deep salmon to bright pink-fuchsia. Some producers allow their wines to undergo malolactic fermentation, softening the acidity and making the wines feel rounder and creamier on the palate. These are rosés that can age, so don’t be afraid to try an older vintage. Young Tavel rosés tend to have flavors of tart black cherries, cranberries and strawberries with a mineral backbone, like wet slate. Some wines have more complexity, with flavors like dried orange peel, cinnamon and dried currants.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternatives: A dark rosé from another Southern Rhône region like Lirac, Gigondas or Vacqueyras, a dark Bandol rosé, dark rosés from the Languedoc-Roussillon
#2: Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo
Cerasuolo roughly translates to “cherry-red,” which is very much the idea for these rosés from Abruzzo. Made from primarily Montepulciano grapes, much like the hilly, coastal region’s well-known red wine, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Cerasuolo is a relatively new entrant in the world of “official” Italian wines, since its DOC was approved in 2010.
When I worked for an American importer with Valle Reale’s Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo in the portfolio, I remember quickly learning that there was simply never enough wine to meet national demand. Some producers, like Valle Reale, ferment their wines with ambient yeasts, and some others use old wood barrels to add texture to their wines. You can expect to find flavors like ripe strawberries and cherries, blood oranges, balsamic vinegar, fresh herbs and hints of cinnamon spice or mineral backbone, like wet stones, in these buoyantly cherry-red wines.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternative(s): Negroamaro rosato from Puglia, particularly Salento
#3: Navarra Rosado
Just north of Rioja lies Navarra, a region that was once part of France, then fiercely independent, as the last kingdom to become part of greater Spain. Between Basque country and Rioja, between the foothills of the Pyrenees and the river Ebro, Navarra is often overshadowed by its recently trendy and always-famous neighbors, though its capital, Pamplona, continuously draws major tourism for the annual Running of the Bulls.
Navarra’s wine region is large and diverse, with 3 different climates - Atlantic, Mediterranean and Continental - all tucked into a vastly differing area. The wines produced here are vastly differing too, from crisp whites to pale rosés, deep rosados to rich reds and even sweet wines. The region’s best claim to fame, though, is its rosados.
Once known for being just ‘cheap and cheerful,’ Navarra’s rosados have evolved over the years. Traditionally made entirely from old vine Garnacha, today’s rosados might have Tempranillo, Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon in the mix. The color of the rosados has changed, too. Once, almost all Navarra rosados were deeply colored like fleshy, ripe watermelons, made with lengthy contact with the red Garnacha grapes’ skins. The trend toward pale rosés crossed over the border from France, so there are now paler versions on offer, though they should be avoided for this particular tasting. Some producers of traditionally bright Navarra rosados barrel-ferment their wines, adding roundness, and some age their wines sur lie, adding texture. The wines’ aromas and flavors can range from ripe red cherries and cranberries to roasted rhubarb and strawberries to freshly-turned earth and spicy cinnamon.
What to ask for: Ask by name, seeking a rosado that is deeply colored and made from 100% Garnacha
Alternative(s): Dark rosados from neighboring Spanish regions like Rioja and Basque Country
#4: Cigales Clarete
Cigales is a small sub-region of Castilla y León, itself a vast wine region covering a huge chunk of northern Spain. Just north of Rueda, outside of Valladolid, Cigales’ vineyards lie along the Pisuerga River. The vineyards may look flat, but they sit between 2,300-2,600 feet (700-800m) above sea level on Spain’s high-altitude plateau, the meseta, with a harsh continental climate with hot, dry summers and frosty winters with scouring winds.
Cigales is a relatively recent “official” Spanish wine region, receiving its DO in the 90s, though it certainly isn’t lacking for history, with winemaking practiced since Roman times. Cervantes, Don Quixote’s famous author, even mentioned the wines of Cigales in his writings. But for much of its modern history, Cigales has been a largely forgotten wine region, which meant that winemakers continued to practice traditional methods other regions left in the past, like making Clarete wines.
Clarete (or clairet) is a traditional winemaking method in which white and red grapes are vinified together, creating a pink wine whose color can range from pretty pale to almost red, depending on the percentages of white and red grapes in the blend. Traditional Spanish Claretes, as opposed to French clairets, usually undergo longer periods of contact with the grape skins during the production process, making the wines deeper in color but also changing their texture, since more tannins can be extracted from the grape skins, especially once alcoholic fermentation begins.
In Cigales, the red grape Tempranillo, known locally as Tinto del País, usually makes up the majority of the blend, while other reds like Garnacha, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are sometimes included. The white varieties include Verdejo, Albillo and Sauvignon Blanc. Because Cigales was largely forgotten, most producers here are families who have maintained traditional practices and avoided replanting their vines, so that there are some extremely old vines producing richly concentrated grapes and the region is dotted with ancient underground cellars, called bodegueros, often shared between several small winemakers.
Some of these wines are oak-aged, and some age sur lie, both of which add texture and complexity. The aromas and flavors can include bright cherries and strawberries, elderflowers and thyme, with some spicy cinnamon when oak aging is involved.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternative(s): Traditional Claretes from Rioja
#5: Dark American Rosé
In contrast to the other wines included in this tasting, American rosés tend not to follow any strict rules or traditions, so the range of rosé wines on offer is vast. And unfortunately, darkly-colored rosés, or “blush” rosés, as they’re often called in the US, come with an association with White Zinfandel that hasn’t done them a whole lot of favors.
White Zinfandel, first created by Bob Trinchero at Sutter Home Winery in the 1970s, was supposedly accidental. As the story goes, Trinchero was using a winemaking practice common in France, the saignée method, in which some juice is “bled off” before fermentation, to concentrated his red Zinfandel wines. The discarded juice was usually fermented into a dry rosé, but in one case, an incomplete fermentation resulted in a lightly sweet wine, which he found that he liked, so he bottled it and sold it as “White Zinfandel.” If you’ve never tried White Zinfandel, by all means, feel free to grab a bottle for this tasting to discuss. However, you’ve been forewarned that the wines tend to be sweet and simple. I can’t say that I’d recommend it.
Luckily, there are many, many styles of rosés produced in the US today, in states like California, Washington, Oregon, New York and Texas. The varieties used in the wines vary just as widely, from the traditional grapes used to make rosé in Provence and the Rhône to Merlot, Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc and even Sangiovese. For this tasting, aim for a rosé with a deep color from any US state.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternative(s): Dark Australian or South African rosé
#6: Lambrusco di Sorbara
Emilia-Romagna is best known for its foods, from prosciutto di Parma to Mortadella Bologna, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Modena’s balsamic vinegars. Unlike most of Italy, it’s not a region well-known for its wines. Except for Lambrusco.
Lambrusco is a style of lightly sparkling red wine, though the wines’ colors actually range from light pink to beet red. Lambrusco experienced a fad in the US in the 1970s and 80s, when the wines were made in a simple, lightly sweet style, after which they were largely forgotten.
Today’s Lambruscos tend to be dry, and there’s one style, Lambrusco di Sorbara, that is consistently on the pale side style-wise, ranging from bright salmon to a cheerful fuchsia. There are several varieties of grapes used to make Lambruscos, and Lambrusco di Sorbara is known for contributing less color and more acidity than the more commonly planted Lambrusco Salamino or Lambrusco Grasparossa. In the Lambrusco di Sorbara DOC, at least 60% of the wine must be made from its eponymous thin-skinned grape variety.
I can’t think of a better wine to open an Italian meal than a Lambrusco di Sorbara. The delicate tannins, bright acidity, frothy, prickling bubbles and floral, fruity flavors playfully prime your palate for all that is come next.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternative(s): Other rosé Lambruscos like the Lini 910 Labrusca Rosé
Tasting tips
The eats
Whenever I’ve been at a party where there’s a variety of food and a single white, red and rosé on offer, the rosé is always drunk first. Always. The Swiss Army knife of wines just works, especially when there’s a lot of flavor going on. Charcuterie is always on the table for wine tastings, but since I’m writing this in January, I’d either go the warmly spiced chicken curry route or make a massive kale salad like this one with ancho chile, sweet potatoes and black beans. Bright colors, warm spices and abundant vegetables just feel right to me after the holidays. Really though, it’s hard to go wrong food-wise in a rosé tasting, so just have fun.
The prep
A note on the tasting order: The wines are listed in the order of which should be included first, so that even if there are just 4 wines in the tasting, you’ve got a well-rounded experience ahead. However, I’d suggest switching up the order in which you taste the wines. With rosé wines, I recommend lining them up by color, so that the palest (often, though not always, subtlest) wines are tasted first, and the deepest-colored (often boldest) wines are tasted last.
That said, I recommend starting with the Lambrusco di Sorbara, since the bubbles will wake up your taste buds right off the bat. And if any of your guests bring a rosé style that is off-dry or lightly sweet, like a White Zinfandel, be sure to enjoy it last, regardless of color.
Sources
Viognier’s History | Oxford Companion to Wine
