Summer is the perfect time for rose (pronounced row-zay). Unfortunately White Zinfandel and it's ilk have given rose a tarnished name. Rose as known by the rest of the world is a crisp, DRY, fruity & sometimes minerally wine that's a perfect quencher for the summer's heat. All around the Mediterranean people sip chilled glasses of rose while they nibble olives, cheeses, charcuterie, bruschetta & tapas. Provence and southern France are the spiritual home of rose. Sitting outside on a patio, sun pouring down, watching old men play and argue bacci ball, sipping on a chilled glass of rose made from Grenache or Cinsault is the perfect way to while away a hot summers afternoon.
There are two different methods for making rose. One is called saignee which means "blood" or bleeding in French. With this method a certain amount of free-run juice is drained off the just crushed dark skinned grapes after a short pre-fermentation maceration. The purpose of this is to produce a pink wine with the aromatics and flavor concentration of a red wine.
The other method, which can produce wines like white zinfandel, involves pressing the red grapes which give up a clear juice then macerating the juice with the skins for a brief period (usually 8-12 hrs.) to give the wine a pink color. After that the wine is fermented to complete dryness. The original white zinfandel was made by Sutter Home Winery when the rose they were trying to make wound up with a stuck fermentation(fermentation stopped) before all the sugar was fermented away leaving a pink wine with a bit of residual sweetness. When this wine sold it proved to be emensely popular and "White" Zinfandel was born. The rest is history. While dry rose sells perhaps a few million cases a year worldwide White Zinfandel sells between 15-20 million cases each year, mostly within the U.S.. While these"sweeter" style wines can be fun (particularly with spicy foods) dry rose is absolutely wonderful as not only a thirst quencher but a match for salads, light summer meals and your wine and food guy's personal favorite pairing, grilled salmon. Casa di Vino carries a variety of roses from around the world including wines from France, Spain, Italy & South Africa. Just remember, next time someone offers you a glass of rose don't automatically assume it's going to be sweet. It could be the great summer quencher you've been looking for.
Howard Bernstein
Owner, Casa di Vino
Wine and Food Guy, Des Moines Wine and Food Connection
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