ROSÉ WINES

We are mildly amused by the reaction of most people to the thought of drinking a rosé or pink wine.  "Oh, no!  We don't want anything sweet!" 

Or: "We want real wine."

Years ago, in the late-1960s and early 1970s, the fashionable wines were Blue Nun Liebfraumilch, Mouton-Cadet from Bordeaux, a straw-covered bulb-shaped bottle from Tuscany and a pair of Portuguese pink wines.  Mateus came in a flagon, while Lancer's was put into a "crock" bottle.  From France came "Nectar-Rose," a Cabernet rosé from the Loire Valley.  Almaden, then a large winery in San Jose and Hollister, used to make a delightful Grenache Rosé.  Paul Masson made a fizzy rosé called "Crackling Rosé."  Naturally, these wines were sweet, relying on sugar for their character. 

In Mediterranean regions where people have been drinking wines for more than a few years, rosé wines are not uncommon.  In fact, they're embraced with tremendous enthusiasm! 

In Spain, for example, we found many restaurants with a dozen or two rosé wines, but a couple of whites and then the obligatory 30-50 red wines.  And the wines there are not sugary, sweet insipid excuses for wine.  They can be flavorful and stone, bone dry. 

France produces many wonderful rosé wines.  

The Rhone Valley's "Tavel" is famous and usually expensive.  The Tavel appellation is seen only on the pink wine; you won't find a white or red version of Tavel.  Grenache is "the" grape of this famed rosé.  

Provence also produces a wide array of pink wines, especially famous being those from Bandol.  Bordeaux even offers rosé, yet where are you likely to find that?  These wines, you see, never attain high numerical scores in the various journals because these are simply not fancy enough for wine geeks. 

California has been producing rosé wines for decades.  They were typically made when red grapes didn't achieve a sufficient degree of ripeness to make a big red wine.   Then, when growers planted tons of red grapes in the early 1970s, the market wanted fruity wines and wineries obliged making "white wines" (well, they were not red...some were pink or had the color of onion skins) from red grapes.  Some were not saleable as "rosé," but sold as Blanc de Noir, snobby wine drinkers would buy. 

In the early 1970s, almost every winery seemed to have a rosé!  Caymus called its rosé "Oeil de Perdrix" (Eye of the Partridge) and the wine was made of Pinot Noir.  Robert Mondavi made a Gamay Rosé from Napa Valley fruit.  Mirassou used to make a dynamite "Petite Sirah Rosé."  Sebastiani had "Eye of the Swan."  Mill Creek, in Sonoma's Healdsburg, made a Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé, as did Simi nearby.  The Kreck family (as in Mill Kreck) copyrighted the term "Blush" for its "Cabernet Blush."  Other wineries, finding this term to have marketing power, could call their pink wines "Blush" wines only if they paid a royalty fee to the Krecks!

David Bruce was one of the first to make a "Blanc de Noirs," produced from Zinfandel, if memory serves.  This was a brownish, onion-skin-colored wine.  Bob Magnani at Grand Cru Vineyards in the Sonoma Valley made a "Nouveau"-styled wine, as well as a Blanc de Noirs.  Sutter Home, at that time a producer of "serious," big Zinfandels from Amador County fruit, made a "Blanc de Noirs."  This was a "White Zinfandel" and theirs was a bit sweet.   This turned into a massively popular wine and made the Trinchero family wealthy in no time!  They had struck gold!  

I was affiliated with a small winery in those ancient days.  This place made really good, bone dry rosé wines of Grignolino, Petite Sirah, Cabernet, etc.  I took these to a snobby, snooty San Francisco wine shop.  The owner or manager laughed when I presented these wines, not even wanting to taste them!   I was disheartened, but amused at the same time.  For, you see, right next to the sales counter was a stack of rosé wine!  But it was sold as a Blanc de Noirs table (still) wine.  It was from Domaine Chandon and called "Tâche Nature."  So....a rosé by any other name..................

Today there is still a large sea of White Zinfandel.  Most of this is made from over-cropped vineyards in California's massive Central Valley.  The grapes have very little character, yet when made as a somewhat sweet wine, they manage to find a market for this.

Making a flavorful, good quality pink wine, call it rosé, blush, vin gris or anything else you like, is a tricky piece of work.

To achieve the right color, most winemakers macerate the grape skins, which offer color, tannin, flavor and fragrance, for some modest amount of time.  Too short a period and the wine lacks color and flavor.  Too long a maceration period and the wine becomes too dark and perhaps even a bit astringent (from the tannin). 

Large, behemoth factories would make rosé wine by merely "coloring" a tank of white wine with some very dark red.   If you add a few gallons of inky, dark Alicante Bouschet to a tank of Colombard or Thompson Seedless white  wine:   Voilà!  Rosé (or the terrible term :  "Blush Chablis").   Ferment the wine until it is bone dry.  Then add grape concentrate or unfermented or partially-fermented juice to achieve the exact amount of sweetness desired.

Today many California winemakers 'bleed' off liquid from their fermentation tanks full of juice and grape skins.  This allows them to have a greater skin-to-juice ratio and make, perhaps, a bigger red wine.  In doing so, they end up making small amounts of pink wine.
Since these grapes cost a fortune, many vintners feel obliged to charge a high price.

Keep in mind, though, producers whose first interest is "rosé" wine are making theirs from fruit picked at a modest sugar level.  This is rather different from these California winemakers who are picking grapes at a potential alcohol level of 15% or more.  Rosé wines with elevated alcohols simply miss the mark...

Okay.  That's the scoop on rosé and pink wine.

SOME ROSÉS WE LIKE:

DOMAINE AMIDO 2007 TAVEL ROSÉ  $14.99
With some 30 hectares spread out between Tavel and Lirac in the Southern Rhône Valley, Christian Amido has been at the helm of this estate for nearly 25 years!   They built a new facility in 2001.

"Grandpa" Armand Maby was involved in the various family enterprises and he showed us around the Tavel and Lirac appellations the first time we visited a few years ago...sadly, he passed away, but the kids still run the place.


The recipe is a good one, the wine having a subtle spice note and a touch of berry fruit without being a fruit bomb.  Of course, it's dry.  The blend is 65% Grenache, 20% Cinsault, 10% Syrah and 5% of a white grape, Clairette.  Amido leaves the skins in contact with the juice for a day-and-a-half, enough to extract a bit of color, but not enough to pick up astringency in the wine.

The 2007 has just landed and it is a lovely bottle for white meats, especially poultry dishes.  It has a fresh fragrance and lots of berry notes.  And, of course, it is dry.  

PIERRE CLAVEL  2007 Languedoc ROSE $11.99  (sold out...new shipment due in shortly...)

Pierre Clavel is a leading vintner in the Languedoc.  His "Copa Santa" wine made major waves a decade ago, competing with serious Rhone wines at a time when nobody thought the Languedoc could produce that level of quality.

His wines continue to be well-regarded.

We found his rose, called "Mescladis" as it's a 'mix' of five varieties this vintage.  Grenache, Carignane, Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsault are the culprits.  "Mecladis" is Occitan for "mixed."  The wine has a beautiful, deep pink color and it's teeming with raspberry fruit notes.  Dry.  Zesty.  Perfect for warm or hot-weather drinking.

CHATEAU BARBANAU 2007 Cotes de Provence Rose Sold Out

Sophie and Didier (pictured at left) Simonini own this terrific little Provencal estate north of Marseille and the town of Cassis.

Their 2007 Rose is dynamite this vintage and an excellent example of Provencal pink wine...it's less pink or red than other roses, as folks in this region prefer the "onion skin" color of rose.

The wine is a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault.  The Grenache and Cinsault get some hours of skin contact and the wine offers a wonderful fruity, melon (cantaloupe?) character.  It's dry, of course and will pair perfectly with all sorts of summer fare...picnics, grilled seafood, Asian cuisine, salads, seafood pastas, etc.

It's easily comparable to a good Bandol rose except you'll notice the price is a bit more attractive.

ABEL CLEMENT 2007 CÔTES du RHÔNE ROSÉ $8.99
This comes from a modest-sized grower's cooperative winery just a short distance north and east of Tavel.  We're usually happy with their little white Rhône and this vintage the rosé, too, is really good.  Even with the weak dollar, this dry, strawberryish pink wine is just perfect for warm weather drinking.  It comes in screw-capped bottles, too.
 

DOMAINE De L'HORTUS 2007 $13.99 
The Orliac family owns this modest domaine, one of the quality leaders in the Pic St. Loup appellation in the Languedoc.  

The photo on the right shows young François Orliac in their rocky vineyards.
This is the sixth or seventh vintage of their Rosé that we've had in the shop.  

It's 40% Syrah, 40% Mourvèdre and 20% Grenache this vintage...it used to be predominantly Grenache... You'll find a lot of raspberryish notes in this wine and it's perfect for taming spicy foods.  It's a great picnic wine, too.

 

CHÂTEAU LA CANORGUE 2007 ROSÉ Sold Out Presently...due back in August of 2008
Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre are skillfully vinified to make this lovely and quite dry rosé by vigneron Jean-Pierre Margan.

If you happened to see the Russell Crowe film from 2006, "A Good Year," it was filmed at Margan's gorgeous estate in the Côtes du Luberon.  

Over the years the wine has evolved, as Margan can make a deeper-colored wine or a more salmon/onion skin hued rosé.  These lighter-colored offerings are more popular along the French Riviera and so I think that's the style he's been producing the past few vintages.

The wine has a nice, light berry note and its dry and crisp on the palate.  You can serve this with all sorts of nibbles or picnic fare.    Yum!

FLORESTA 2007 ROSADO  $9.99
From Spain's Costa Brava we have a delicious, dark, deeply berryish pink wine.

It's made by the Pere Guardiola winery and the blend is 50% Garnacha, 42% Merlot and 8% Tempranillo.

DOMAINE TEMPIER 2007 BANDOL ROSÉ  $36.99
The estate of Domaine Tempier is especially famous here in the Bay Area thanks to Berkeley-based importer Kermit Lynch.  He's beaten his well-worn drum in touting the Mourvèdre-based wines of his beloved Tempier.  

It's predominantly Mourvèdre, with Cinsault, Grenache, Carignan, and maybe a drop of Syrah for those keeping score at home.  

The wine is, were pleased to report, delicious.  It's dry and fresh, showing nice berry fruit on the nose and palate.  

One of the best we've tasted from the 2007 vintage.  Too bad it's so costly, but it is good...

HEITZ 2007 Napa Valley GRIGNOLINO ROSÉ $17.99
A sure sign of Summer is the arrival of Heitz old-fashioned, dry, Napa Valley rosé made of the Italian Grignolino variety.

This is light and dry and it offers a wonderfully floral perfume.

There's nothing like it and most California vintners have no clue as to how to produce a good pink wine.
Most are more skilled at affixing a high price tag to the bottle than they are to vinifying the wine.  

The Heitz family has been making this since the 1960s...

CANDELA 2006 VIN GRIS DE PINOT NOIR  $13.49
Byron Kosuge is the winemaker for the Miura, etc. winery and its various wines...they make a wide range of offerings, with Pinot Noir as the specialty of the house.  
Kosuge ought to be skilled at making these, since he was the winemaker at Napa's Saintsbury winery for many years.

While there he made a nice little pink wine which they called "Vincent Vin Gris."  

With the Candela label, he's got a lovely 2006 Vin Gris which is a cherry-red color and made from Pinot Noir.  All the tanks of Pinot from which he's "bled" off the juice are "Pisoni Clone" Pinot Noirs.  The wine is dry and cherryish on the palate...typical of many California saignée wines, it's over 14% alcohol, but not by much.  

Domaines Ott Rosé "Coeur de Grain" 2007  SALE  $39.99
The fancy bottle was designed in the 1930s and the Ott family makes one of France's most esteemed rosé wines in Provence.
The family owns three estates: 
Clos Mireille,  producing Côtes de Provence white wine.
Château Romassan, a Bandol property where they make red, white and rosé.
Château de Selle, their original and oldest holding in the Côtes de Provence where they make rosé, red and white. 

We usually have the Château de Selle Rosé (as well as their Clos Mireille white), a pink wine vinified from Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache and Cinsault.  I think this wine is best served with Provençal-styled cuisine.  Bouillabaisse wouldn't be a bad idea.   Nor would something incorporating saffron.

JULIAN CHIVITE 2005 ROSADO  (List $11.49)  Sold Out...waiting for the 2007

Well, we sold out the 2005 from the shop, but the local distributor still has quite a bit of it, so we may not see a fresh vintage of Chivite's delicious Rosado for another year or two.

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LANCER'S
We get numerous requests for Lancer's Rosé and are happy to special order it for our customers.
It currently goes for $6.99 before the 12 bottle case discount.

If you're interested in a case, please call us to place your order.

MATEUS

This goes for $5.99 a bottle.   I bought one to taste it just to check it out.

It's pale pink, sort of onion skin color.  Sweet...not much fruit on the nose...

And it still comes in its flagon-shaped bottle.  We actually have a few bottles in stock...

BLUE NUN
Back in the early 1970s, Blue Nun was "the" German wine.  It took the mystery out of buying a bottle of Riesling...you did not have to know hard-to-pronounce names such as "Weingut Reichsrat Von Buhl  Forster Kirchenstuck  Riesling Spätlese trocken Groes Gewchs."

Blue Nun won't be winning any blind-tastings of German wine, but it is still available for those customers who have a case of nostalgia and want a case of Blue Nun.

MOUTON CADET
This wine is purportedly from Bordeaux.

It sort of tastes like a Bordeaux, but we wouldn't be surprised if other wines were blended with Bordeaux to create Mouton Cadet.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, chic wine drinkers knew this brand as being a symbol of good taste and sophistication.  I think today the same people (or their offspring) buy wines such as California's Far Niente or Cakebread to demonstrate their status as bon vivants.  

The white wine equivalent of Mouton Cadet came from the Burgundy firm of Louis Jadot.  (See below...)

LOUIS JADOT
You have to give the people credit who would come into a shop or restaurant and try to pronounce the name of this wine.

"Do you have any Lou-ee Jar-dott Polly-Foos?"

"Where's the Louis Jadot Pussy Fussee?"

It was a sign of sophistication, to be sure, to be able to order a bottle of this wine in a restaurant.  Your guests knew you were a sharp, well-heeled individual.  The waiter knew and so did the bus boy.

I think yesterday's Pouilly-Fuissé drinker is today's buyer of Far Niente or Cakebread Chardonnay.  

If you want some bottles of Jadot Pouilly-Fuissé  or their perfectly ordinary Macon Villages, let me know and we'll special order these for you.  

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Last modified: August 15, 2008