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.   In Provence, by the way, the wines with a more light orange/onion skin/pale salmon color are highly prized.  They don't care much for deep cherry red colored pink wines.  

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 2011 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 2011 is, as usual, a delight.  Dry, fruity, floral and thoroughly enjoyable.

DOMAINE DE FONTSAINTE "GRIS DE GRIS"  $13.50
The Fontsainte domaine is one of the leading lights in the Corbieres appellation,   The estate was established in 1971 by Yves Laboucarié and today his son Bruno runs the domaine.
The family, though, has ties to the area since the 1600s.

Yves was a bit of an innovator and brought the notion of carbonic maceration fermentation to their winemaking.  This, of course, gave a new dimension to the fruit in a time and place when "rustic" wines were the norm.

Carignan vines account for half of the 65 hectares of vineyards, with 30% Grenache, 15% Syrah and 5% Mourvedre.  The Carignan, by the way, is rather old, the vines averaging 70 years of age.

The 2011 Rose is a recent arrival.  It's predominantly Grenache (both "gris" and "noir") with 10% each of Carignan, Mourvedre and Cinsault.  The juice from these red varieties is "bled" off from their tanks and it is cold fermented for more than a month.

The resulting wine is dry and nicely fruity without the "bubble gum" character of some wines fermented with particularly aromatic yeasts.

Very nice!

VINCENT RICARD'S 2011 P'TIT ROSE  $11.99
We don't see too many pink wines from the Loire these days...but years ago it was the source of some very popular bottles.

Vincent Ricard is a thoughtful winemaker and we're big fans of his Sauvignon Blanc wines, especially.  His domaine is located in the Touraine appellation and so he grows a fair bit of Sauvignon, of course, but also a smattering of Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Gamay.  

His little Rose is a blend of Cabernet Franc and Gamay, 60/40 if we recall correctly.

The wine is light pink in color and has a wonderfully fresh, fruity aroma with notes of strawberry and a faint raspberry tone in the back.  It's dry and light, yet fairly flavorful.  

CHATEAU DE CAMPUGET 2011 COSTIERES DE NÎMES  SALE $10.99

This 160 hectare estate is situated between Arles and the town of Nimes and it's owned by the Dalle family.  Jean-Lin Dalle is assisted by his son, Franck-Lin (Jean-Lin's a history buff and has an appreciation for American founding father Benjamin Franklin).  We don't know if they follow basketball and are fans of Jeremy Lin.

We've found their recipe for Rose to be rather good and the wine arrived at an attractive price, too.

The 2011 is 70% Syrah and 30% Grenache Noir.  Lots of berryish fruit and the wine is nice and dry.

OLIVARES 2011 JUMILLA ROSADO  $10.99
Southeast in Spain you'll find a region where Mourvedre is a mainstay.  It's the Jumilla area and the grape goes by the name Monastrell.  The region was never hit with the phylloxera root louse and so it's the home to a lot of really old vineyards.  

Olivares is a good family-operated winery in this sandy region.  We've known this winery more as a source for a dynamite sweet wine, but the importer has just brought in some thoroughly delicious dry pink wine.  It's predominantly Monastrell, as one might expect, with

CUNE 2010 RIOJA ROSADO  $11.99

CUNE is the Compania Vinicola del Norte España.

It's an old firm and they make traditionally-styled wines for the most part.
And they make a thoroughly modern rendition of Rioja-area Rosado, producing a wine that's made entirely of Tempranillo from the Rioja Alta region.  The juice spends 24 to 48 hours in contact with the skins until they find the color to be just right...The juice is pressed away from the skins and it's fermented in stainless steel tanks and bottled young and fresh.

The 2010 has just arrived...nice fresh aromas of red fruits...these same notes comprise the flavors:  raspberries, cherries and a touch of strawberry.  Dry, of course.

JULIAN CHIVITE GRAN FEUDO 2010 ROSADO  $9.99
Chivite is an old time vintner and they've been making what many consider to be the "benchmark" Spanish rosado.

The Chivite family still runs this bodega, tracing their roots back to the 1600s in Navarra.  The company owns about 470 acres of vineyards and has contracts on several other parcels, too.

We were first introduced to their wines several decades ago...and while the Rosado has been consistently good over that time period, obtaining their wines has not been easy.

We were in Europe at a wine fair some years ago, saw the Chivite stand, tasted the wines and had a chat with a marketing person.  "Oh, we'd love to sell wines again in the U.S.," she told me.  And we suggested a national importer and two years later...the wines arrived with this company.
But that lasted just a couple of years, as the accountants demanded more sales than could be generated.

Lately, the wine has come through a small importer of Iberian wines who has a nice portfolio, but an impressive mark-up.
They still are offering the 2009 vintage and those bottles sell, typically, for $12-$15.

This week's new importer offers the wine for a more affordable price and the wine is, as has been customary, outstanding.   It's redolent of raspberries, the hallmark of good Garnacha.  Dry, of course!  

CASAL GARCIA  VINHO VERDE ROSE  $6.99
This is a remarkably good, dry pink wine from Portugal...it's from a winery a few miles outside of Oporto and they're famous for their Vinho Verde.

If you've been searching for a rose made from 30% Vinhao, 35% Azal Tinto, and 35% Borracal, here's your wine.

It's fresh, strawberryish and close to dry, with a faint spritz to it.

This is a delightful wine, flavorful and low in alcohol.

  Domaines Ott Rosé "Coeur de Grain" 2011  (List $45!)  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.

ABEL CLEMENT 2009 CÔTES du RHÔNE ROSÉ Sold Out
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.
 

 

LE GALANTIN

This is a modest little family-operated winery and bed & breakfast estate with most of their vineyards within the Bandol appellation.

They're facing the Gros Cerveau mountain within the town of Plan du Castellet.  The winery was founded in 1970 and today comprises something close to 35 hectares.

We like their Rosé as it's a classic Provencal version of "pink" wine...more the onion skin color...this vintage it's a blend of 50% Mourvèdre, 25% Cinsault and 25% Grenache.  Dry, of course.  Perfect for salads, seafood, seafood salads, seafood pastas, a platter of charcuterie, etc.  

 

Currently in stock:  2011 LE GALANTIN Bandol Rosé  $19.99

DOMAINE De L'HORTUS 2011 (List $15) SALE $12.99 
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 15% Syrah, 30% Mourvèdre and 50% Grenache and 5% Cinsault this vintage... 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.

 

LE ROC ROSÉ  2011 (FRONTON)  $9.99
Château Le Roc is the leading estate in the Fronton region near Toulouse.
The Ribes brothers make some terrific wines, using the Negrette grape (we call it Pinot Saint George here in California).  In addition to the Negrette, there's 30% Syrah and 5% Cabernet
Their 2011 Rosé is berryish and dry with a touch of spice.  Good value, too.
Remarkably balanced, too...

 

DOMAINE TEMPIER 2011 BANDOL ROSÉ $38.99
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 2008 vintage.  Too bad it's so costly, but it is good...

The 2009, we're told, is unavailable and the sales rep for the local importer has quit working for the company as a result.  Curious.



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 2008 vintage.  Too bad it's so costly, but it is good...

The 2009, we're told, is unavailable and the sales rep for the local importer has quit working for the company as a result.  Curious.

HEITZ 2011 Napa Valley GRIGNOLINO ROSÉ  $18.99
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...

LOPEZ HEREDIA  2000 Vina Tondonia Rioja Rosado $29.99

We wonder what some people think when they see an eleven year old bottle (yes, 2000 vintage) of "pink" wine sitting on the rack...there are all the 2009s and 2010s and here's a bottle that's more than a decade old.

Why is it still languishing on the wine rack?

Why didn't they sell it in 2001, when it was young?

What's the matter with these stupid "wine store people" (if that isn't redundant)?

 

Well, the Lopez Heredia winery does things differently.  And, in fact, this wine is more recently released here than some of our younger rose wines.

Lopez Heredia, you see, takes its time when making ALL its wines.  Patience is required.
Instant gratification is not part of their lexicon.

The 2000 vintage is 60% Garnacho (they call Grenache/Garnacha: "Garnacho"), 30% Tempranillo and 10% Viura.  The wine spent about 4 years in wood and they'd rack it a couple of times a year, fining it with egg whites (that means you can't serve this to your vegan friends) and bottling it without filtration.  

How does it taste?
Well, it tastes like an older, somewhat mature wine.  It lacks the exuberant fruit of a young, fruity rose.  The wine is dry and matches up quite nicely with a range of foods...white fish filets cooked in brown butter...smoked pork chops...chicken cooked in the fat rendered by bacon or salt pork...
This seems to show best with some soulful foods, rather than simple picnic fare.

But it's not for everyone--that's for sure!

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.

This is what it used to look like:  

This is how it looks these days: 

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 Grosses Gewächs."

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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