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Everything's Coming Up Rose's

For a lot of wine drinkers, rosé is not the first choice for a drink with dinner or at a cocktail party.

Jeff Morgan wants to change that. “Rosé has the potential to be the next Pinot Grigio. It drinks like a white. Acts like a red. And it can stand up to a lot of food pairings, says Morgan, author of Rosé, A Guide to the World’s Most Versatile Wine (Chronicle Books).

Morgan’s interest in rosé isn’t merely academic. Since 2000, he and partner Daniel Moore have made SoloRosa (Italian for “only pink), a blend of Sangiovese from Atlas Peak in California’s Napa Valley and Merlot from Lodi. Not everyone shared Morgan’s passion for rosé, at least initially. “The wine geeks loved it but said I couldn’t sell a dry rosé for $15. It was either white Zinfandel at $5 or forget about it, Morgan says.

Overcoming Rosé Bias
While rosé can be enjoyed year-round, its crisp, light and refreshing qualities make it an ideal wine for summer. And its popularity as a quaff is surging.

While Tony Soter stopped making rosé under his Etude label about ten years ago because “there was no money in it, in 2004, he made a trial production of 600 cases of rosé from Pinot Noir grown in California’s Carneros region. And despite a retail price of $20, he sold the entire amount to distributors. SoloRosa mushroomed from 22 cases in 2000 to 2,400 cases for the 2004 vintage.

This success indicates that America is overcoming its bias against rosé as an unsophisticated or sissified wine. “I’ve had many people say ‘Gee, this is not sweet,’ Morgan says. “There is a misconception that pink wines are sweet, from white Zin to Lancer’s and Mateus before that.

While technically possible to make a rosé by mixing red and white wines, the classic way is the saignée method in which the skins and juice of crushed red grapes are kept in contact for several hours or longer. This gives the wine a pink hue as opposed to the red color achieved for red wine when skins and juice are left in contact for an extended period. Once the skins have been removed, the rosé juice is essentially fermented like a white wine.

Sparkling rosé is produced like any other sparkling wine except that the juice used is pink. Ironically, rosé sparkling wine, particularly rosé Champagne, is typically more expensive than white sparkling wine because it is made in smaller amounts. Rosé Champagne can also be aged, unlike still rosé, which should be consumed within a year or two.

Pink in Provence
No other part of the world appreciates rosé more than Southern France. In the Côtes de Provence region, for example, approximately 85 percent of the wine made is rosé. Appellations such as Bandol and Tavel within this region are known almost exclusively for pink wines. Provencal rosés are typically more acidic, less alcoholic and lighter in color than those from California, though there are notable exceptions such as Tavel rosés, which are darker and heavier in body. Rosés from Pinot Noir are also produced in the Loire Valley and Burgundy.

Southern French rosés are usually blends of Rhône varietals, predominately Grenache but also Mourvedre, Cinsault, Syrah and a few lesser known grapes suchas Carignan and Clairette. Some outstanding French rosé producers include: Canto Perdrix, La Mordorée, Chateau d’Acqueria, Domaines Ott, Domaine Tempier, Jean-Luc Colombo, Chateau Routas, Guigal, Chateau de Manissy, Domaine Bruno Clair, and Domaine de Fontsainte.

A Rosé Boom in California
The increased popularity of Rhône varietals in California has brought about a corresponding interest in rosés made from them. “You are starting to see grapes dedicated to rosé among Rhône-style producers, says Jason Haas, winemaker at Tablas Creek, a winery co-founded by the Perrin family, which owns Chateau de Beaucastel, the celebrated property in Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Tablas Creek’s rich, dark and meaty rosé is 64 percent Mourvedre and 28 percent Grenache. “Rhône varietals have a lot of fruit and acid and not a lot of tannin, which is a great combination for rosé, Haas says.

Soter disagrees. “I think of Rhône varietals as coarser and flabbier, he says. “I view ours as a brut Champagne without the bubbles. (Soter also makes a Pinot Noir Brut Rosé sparkling wine at Soter Vineyards in Oregon.)

Morgan believes the varietals make less of a difference than the terroir of the region and the skill of the winemaker. “The differences among varietals is muted by the lack of skin contact, he says. Morgan adds that California has less vintage variation than France. The 2003 vintage in France was particularly difficult for rosé because record-breaking summer heat created heavier wines with less of the usual acidity.

In addition to SoloRosa, Etude, and Tablas Creek, other top California rosé producers include Beckmen, Bonny Doon, Chimney Rock, Kuleto, McDowell, Preston, Robert Sinskey, Rutherford Hill, Saintsbury, Sanford and Valley of the Moon.

Despite climates warmer than France, Italy and Spain don’t produce nearly as many rosés. Navarra is Spain’s best-known rosé (rosado in Spanish) region where Garnacha (Grenache) is the primary varietal. Rioja produces rosé from Tempranillo. Spanish rosé producers to look for include: Ochoa, Vega Sindoa, René Barbier, Condesa de Leganza and Faustino V.

Italian rosés or rosatos tend to be fuller on the palate than those of Southern France, according to Morgan. Scalabrone from Tuscany, made by the Antinori family, is one of the best known. Valentini Cerasuolo Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is the most expensive.

The pairing of rosé with food will depend on the style of rosé. For example, the light and elegant Etude rosé would make an excellent aperitif or accompaniment to seafood, especially shellfish. Heavier rosés such as Tablas Creek have enough stuffing for grilled meats. In between, try them with salads, sandwiches and pizza. My favorite dish with rosé is a spicy fish stew or fish soup. Well-seasoned Asian dishes are another good bet.

Sam Gugino is Tastes columnist for Wine Spectator and author of Low-Fat Cooking to Beat the Clock.