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Rose all day!
Women + Wine
Katie Rice & Sarah Pierre
Rice owns VinoTeca in Inman Park
and Pierre owns 3 Parks Wine Shop in
Glenwood Park..
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As wine lovers embrace the spring and
head out to picnic, rose wines are likely on the
list of must-buys. But this form of vino is not
a trend or a seasonal treat in our minds — every
season is rose season! This month, we will
break down what rose wine is, dispel some
myths, and show you how to incorporate rose
into your wine rotation.
A little history
VinoTeca opened in 2015 when rose was
rapidly gaining mainstream popularity and
although it’s pretty pink hue had been on the
wine geek radar, we were thrilled to be able to
help bring it to our guests.
American palates were a little behind, as
rose wine dates to the Greeks when light-
colored, less harsh wines were the favorite. As
the Phoenicians and Romans moved through
Southern France, specifically in Marseille, they
began to export their unique Mediterranean
styles as a benchmark.
This holds true today as Provence is still a
hub for rose and Marseille remains the largest
city in this area beholden to these winemaking
traditions. In the 19th century, French tourists
began to flock to this area to sit at a cafe
looking over the Mediterranean Sea and sip
rose. It became a symbol of luxury and leisure.
In other countries, rose also has a rich
tradition. In Spain, there are mentions of
rosado dating back to the 1800s in Rioja and
Navarro, when producers used Garnacha and
Tempranillo to make bright, complex claret.
The story of Italian rosato has an American
connection when troops stationed in the
liberated south during WWII wanted wines
like those they tried in Provence. General
Charles Poletti approached the Leone de
Castris family to make a wine named Five
Roses which they bottled in mismatched beer
bottles and sold to the troops.
The modern American palate was mostly
influenced by the Portuguese through a wine
popularized in the 1970s called Mateus — a
semi-sweet, pink wine that sold nearly 20
million cases in 1974. This began our love
affair with blush wine. Sutter FFome White
Zinfandel winemaker Bob Trinchero allowed
for ripe red grapes to only lightly ferment
thus producing the more saccharine style that
became popular throughout the 1980s and
early 90s. After the millennium, smart somms
and savvy wine drinkers began to push Old
World wines and the rose industry began to
boom. Now it seems, every producer makes
some form of pink wine.
What is rose?
But what exactly is rose? A common
misnomer is that white wine is simply
blended with red wine, but this is frowned
upon in winemaking. Rose is created through
traditional winemaking but with minimal skin
contact with red grapes.
When wine is made, grapes are pressed
and the juice that is extracted is most often
clear. To generate any hue to the wines, the
skins of the grapes are macerated on their
juices. The longer this maceration, the darker
the wine and vice versa. Rose can be created
from any red grape but instead of long
exposure to skin, the juice has only hours to
a few days of contact thus producing many
shades of pink.
Another procedure for rose production is a
method called saignee or “to bleed.” This style
involves putting the juice into a vat with skins
and seeds. After a short time (again, hours
to days), a portion of that juice is removed
or bled off and the rest goes on to make red
wine. The bled-off juice is then fermented and
made into rose. Wines like Tavel from France
are made in this style.
Rose has been incorporated into the
world’s wine culture and should be used for
more than just a summer sipper. As discussed,
rose is simply red wine with light skin contact.
The incorrect belief that most pink wines are
more like the White Zins our grandmas drank
is still widely held.
The shade of the wine has also become
controversial: darker color somehow leads to
sweetness, but this is entirely untrue. Simply
put, more skin contact means more color not
sugar content, which comes from how much
sugar the grape holds or better put, how ripe
it is. Most rose is dry. Darker rose really means
more tannin, more complexity, and more
body.
The spectrum of colors that are produced
depends a lot on the grape used. Tempranillo
tends to produce a brighter, deeper pink with
Katie's Wine Pick
2021 Ameztoi ‘Rubentis’
from Txakolina, Spain
The Basque country of Spain sits
overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and
is known for it’s fresh, almost salty
wines. Ameztoi was the first winery
to produce pink wine from the grape
FFondorrabi Beltza and FFondrrabi
Zuri. This limited wine is light and
almost effervescent with notes of
strawberry and citrus with a hint of
mint. Pairs perfectly with fresh shrimp
and crab.
notes of strawberries and melon and hints
of spice. While Grenache and Syrah (typical
Provence grapes) have a paler hue with flavors
of grapefruit, watermelon, and herbs. The
different shades of pink are endless.
When shopping for rose, as with any
wine, what you are doing with the wine is at
the forefront of the decisions. For relaxing
in the park or sitting poolside, consider one
of the traditional dry Provence styles, not
just something from the region but perhaps
a Cotes-du-Rhone or even something from
Slovenia. For dinner, this style also pairs well
with seafood, Mediterranean fare or goat
cheese. Rose of Pinot Noir from Oregon can
pair well with a roasted chicken, but truly
shines at Thanksgiving. Dark rose like the ones
from Tavel, France holds up to a bone-in pork
chop or duck confit, something heartier with
a little fat.
The only negative to this celebrated wine
style is that it is often limited. Rose wines are
released in the spring and are often sold out by
mid-summer. They often represent the smallest
part of production in a winery and these wines
tend to have limited aging potential (with a
few exceptions.) When you find your favorites,
take advantage of case discounts to stock up, as
every season is rose season.
Sarah’s Wine Pick
2020Thibaud Boudignon
Rose de Loire, France
This Cabernet Franc dominant rose
expresses itself much differently
than a classic Provencal rose. Bright,
mineral-driven with notes of red fruit,
citrus, and white pepper. Enjoy this
wine as an aperitif or bring this to
a seafood boil and impress all your
friends! Boudignon Rose de Loire is
EXTREMELY limited due to very little
being produced, so be sure to snag a
bottle in the early summer when it
arrives in boutique retail wine shops.
44 MAY 2022 | DU
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