Rosé Essentials
Vintage image sourced from Unsplash
First up, there are two things about rosé that I firmly believe to be true:
The color of a rosé doesn’t tell you anything about its quality.
Rosé is not just for spring and summer.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get into it. This tasting is focused on the still rosé wines from around the world. But don’t worry, there will be another tasting focused on sparkling rosés too.
Stuff to know
In Antiquity, most wines were what we’d call rosé or orange wines today. Winemaking techniques were, as you’d imagine, a bit less refined. Winemakers in antiquity weren’t as fussed about making sure their wines’ color came out red or white precisely, which often meant that red and white grapes were blended together, and most wines were made from juice that came in contact with the grapes’ skins. Amber, salmon, blush, bronze, pink…call them whatever you want.
It’s not entirely clear why the French word for “pink” is the name for this whole, widely varied segment of light wines made from red grapes that fall somewhere between barely blush and fuchsia. But rosé stuck, and today, it’s used in most countries to describe all pink-ish wines made from red grapes.
There are 3 ways that most still rosé wines are made:
Saignée
Translated from the French as “bleeding,” which is a bit dark, I know. Unappetizing as it sounds, it’s a technique that was often used not necessarily to create rosé wines, but in which rosé wines were the byproduct of trying to make a bolder, richer, darker red wine. When the red grapes are pressed, the first juice, which is lighter and has had less time touching the grapes’ skins (where color, tannin and flavor come from) is “bled” off to make rosé. Saignée rosé wines used to be considered lower quality, since they weren’t made intentionally, but this isn’t at all true today. If anything, these can be extremely high quality rosés of limited availability, since the quantity produced can be lower than it would be from the other 2 techniques.
Direct press
Rosé wines made from direct pressing are sometimes called “vin gris” (grey wine), which I’ve never really understood. These rosés are extremely pale, since they hardly spend any time at all on the skins. Red grapes are gently pressed, and whatever color comes through from the process of pressing is the only color imparted on the wines.
Maceration
This is how most rosé wines are made, though the range of styles made by maceration are practically endless. I like to think of maceration in terms of tea, since we’ve all seen tea soaking in hot water. The longer the tea sits in the water, the darker the water becomes, since it’s pulling more color, flavor and tannin from the tea leaves. Wine works the same way, so winemakers must decide whether to leave the wines on the red grape skins for short amounts of time, making pale rosés, or for longer to make bolder, darker, more tannic rosé wines. White grapes are allowed to be co-macerated with red grapes in many regions as well, adding even more variety.
There’s another method used to make rosé wines, blending, in which finished red wine is blended into finished white wine, but it’s not commonly used for still rosé wine production, so I’ll talk about this more in the sparkling rosé tasting, where Champagne and Rosé Prosecco are covered.
What to look for in this tasting
Rosé wines will run the gamut of flavors, so pay attention to what you’re getting from the glass. Is the wine basically watermelon water, or are you smelling and tasting fruit, earth, chalk, brine, flowers, herbs, spices and more? Rosé wine can be very basic, and it can be very complex. Quality doesn’t correlate with color, so please do your best to keep an open mind as you taste. And as always, consider where and how you’d like to enjoy this wine. A basic rosé can be the perfect wine for a day at the beach, while a complex rosé could be just right with a difficult-to-pair with Thanksgiving dinner spread.
The Wines
#1: Provençal Rosé
Côtes de Provence is the best-known appellation for Provençal rosés, which are the best-known styles of rosé worldwide. However, best-known isn’t always best. Provence is a large wine region that contains several rosé appellations, and styles, quality and price can vary widely. Grape varieties are typically blended, with Grenache, Cinsault, Tibouren, Mourvèdre, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon as popular red grape selections. White grapes can be up to 20% of the blends too, adding further complexity. With so much variety on offer, consider asking your local retailer for recommendations.
What to ask for: rosé wine from Provence
Alternatives: Stick with Provençal rosés from Bandol, Côtes de Provence, Cassis, Palette, Coteaux Varois en Provence, Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence, Les Baux-en-Provence, Mediterranée
#2: Rhône Valley Rosé
Ernest Hemingway, considered one of the manliest of men, called Tavel rosé the “wine of Love,” and claimed he couldn’t have lunch without it. Tavel is the Rhône Valley’s most famous rosé appellation, popular since King Philip IV proclaimed Tavel “the only good wine in the world.” Today, Tavel isn’t the only rosé wine region in the Rhône Valley, and it often suffers from the popular misperception that the best rosé wines are pale. Tavel rosés are typically a loud fuchsia color, thanks to more time on the red grapes’ skins, and their flavors and tannins are more intense than those in paler rosés too. Consider picking up an extra bottle for drinking later, since these are rosés that can handle some age.
What to ask for: rosé wine from the Rhône Valley
Alternatives: Stick with Rhône Valley rosés from Tavel, Lirac, Côtes du Rhône, Luberon, Ventoux, Costières de Nîmes
#3: American Rosé
American rosé can’t be pinned down to any particular style or place. California, Oregon, Washington, New York and Texas are the states that produce the most rosé these days, but every state produces wine, so there may be a wide variety on shelves depending on where you live. Sutter Home’s sweet White Zinfandel was the USA’s claim to rosé fame back in the ‘70s, but dry rosés have been made for decades too. Bonny Doon’s Rhône-style Vin Gris de Cigare has playfully nodded to France’s famous dry rosés since the 80s. Today, America’s rosé options are far from limited. In a country where wine industry rules, regulations and traditions are far less restrictive, there’s plenty to explore at all levels.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternatives: Stick with rosé from any American state
#4: Spanish Rosado
Rosé rosado, tomato tom-ah-to. Rosado translates to pink in Spanish, but both words are commonly used today. Spain’s rosados can be traditional and savory claretes, particularly those from Rioja like the rare and famous Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva Rosado from R. López de Heredia. These traditional rosado wines are usually blends of red and white Spanish grapes, and are fermented and/or aged in barrels, sometimes for years. Modern rosados can be bold, deeply colored, fruit-forward wines with oak aging, like many from Navarra, or they can be pale rosados without any oak influence, adhering to the popular Provençal, now ‘international’ style.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternatives: Stick with rosados from Rioja, Navarra, Catalonia, Txakolína, Cigales, Tierra de León, Ribera del Duero
#5: Loire Valley Rosé
Historically, the valley of the kings was best known for its Cabernet d’Anjou and Rosé d’Anjou, two styles of rosé that are lightly sweet, making them polarizing choices, since dry rosés have come to reign supreme today. These are by no means the only styles of rosé from the Loire Valley today though. The longest river in France is surrounded by wineries producing styles of rosé that range from onion skin-colored vin gris to dark, almost red Cabernets. Some of the best-known regions today, like Reuilly and Sancerre, produce exceedingly pale rosés from Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternatives: Stick with Loire Valley rosés like Cabernet d’Anjou, Rosé d’Anjou or rosés from Sancerre, Reuilly, Touraine, Chinon, Coteaux du Vendomois, Saint Pourçain
#6: Italian Rosato
Much like in Spain, there’s a rosé rosato, tomato tom-ah-to situation in Italy. You’ll find labels with both names, and they mean the same thing. Italy may be best known for its red wines, but the boot-shaped country is certainly no stranger to rosé. Rosatos are made with more than 50 different Italian grape varieties, not to mention the French varieties that have been added to the mix. Production methods vary just as widely. There are almost-red cherry-colored cerasuolo wines from Abruzzo made with Montepulciano. There’s the copper-pink Italian equivalent to vin gris, called ramato and made from copper-y skinned Pinot Grigio. There’s bright pink Chiaretto from the Veneto and Lombardy, like the famed Chiaretto di Bardolino on Lake Garda’s eastern shore. From north to south, rosatos abound.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternatives: Stick with Italian rosatos like Pinot Grigio Ramato, Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo, Chiaretto from the Veneto or Lombardy, or rosatos from Puglia, Piedmont, Tuscany, Trentino-Alto Adige, Sicily
Tasting tips
The eats
One of the best things about rosé wine is its versatility. Straddling the line between white and red wine makes for an extremely broad food-pairing range. As a host of this tasting, you could get adventurous, branching out from charcuterie boards into options like make-it-yourself taco bars, a Nordic-style smörgåsbord or even ordering in a variety of Indian dishes to share. The world truly is your oyster, since it’s hard to go wrong with a range of delicate to bold rosés on the table.
The prep
Due to its (perceived) seasonality, rosé wines are most heavily stocked in retailers in spring and early summer, so the range of wines on offer will be the broadest at that time of year. That said, this tasting includes classic styles of rosé that should be pretty easy to find at any time.
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 subtlest) wines are tasted first, and the deepest fuchsia (often boldest) wines are tasted last. The only caveat: if any of your guests bring a rosé style that is off-dry or lightly sweet, for example, a Rosé d’Anjou, Cabernet d’Anjou or White Zinfandel, be sure to enjoy those last, regardless of color.
