My Love Hate Relationship with Rose

True confession comes…I didn’t like Rosé wines. Back in 2011 I spent the summer trying to find a Rosé wine I liked. I wasn’t that successful and I tried many, from all over the world made with all different grapes. Now fast forward to 2016, last year, during our #winestudio program I got reintroduced to Rosé from producers in California and I was really impressed. Wow, I thought what has changed.

First let’s talk about Rosé. What is Rosé? Rose wine is made from grapes that typically make your red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and so forth. What is different is the grapes come in from the vineyard and sit on the skins just for a little while to extract some color. Define a little while, I can’t as each winemaker is different and it depends on what they are looking to achieve. This method is called the maceration method.

Another method is the Saignée method. This is where the grapes come in from the vineyard and after the first few hours some of the juice is bled off. They put this juice into a separate vat and make Rosé with it.

Some myths about Rosé:

• Rosé wine is sweet wine because if it’s Pink it must be sweet. False! This goes back to the day of White Zinfandel, a pink sweet wine made from Zinfandel grapes. It kind of gave Rosé a stigma. While some Rosé is sweet, the majority of the wine is dry.
• Rosé wine can only be consumed in the summer months. False! Rosé wine can and should be consumed all year long. It pairs well with many foods and is great pairing with turkey and ham during the holiday season
• Rosé wine should be consumed within 3 years of the vintage date. True. Rosé wine isn’t a wine you age.

Looking back to 2011 I ask myself what has change because I’m really liking the Rosé wines. Personally I think the quality of the winemaking has improved. I think winemakers have a better understanding of what they want to achieve and how to achieve it. I think there is more awareness about the wine.

This month of June once again #winestudio has brought us to Rosé wines. I’ve tasted Rosé wines from France and California (future posts forthcoming) and have enjoyed them. Last year I had purchased a bunch of Rosé wines online and received them in February from all over and have been enjoying them as well. I will give you around up towards the end of the summer of those wines.

I put out to you to try some Rosé wines and let me know what you think.