The Significance of Rose Wine
I’ve started to think about Rose.
No doubt this slight fixation of the past few days has been caused by the onset of spring. The fact is, I am so in love with the pink drink that I force myself to ignore it during the three winter months. If I didn’t install this forced blindness in my mind, I’d surely ruin the significance of Rose.
There are some very solid associations I make to rose that have turned it from simply being the best wine anyone could drink to the seductress it has become: friends, heat, white linen clothing, big brimmed hats towering over feminine bodies, empty glasses buzzing with bees, salmon, warm nights and lingering guests.
In America, Rose has been and remains a tough sell among wine drinkers. Too many associated it with "White Zinfandel," which of course it usually is not, though it can be. That said, there has been a marked increase over he past five years in the consumption of pink, and this has, happily, led more American wineries to take the leap and produce a bottle.
Many of the best Roses come from France, and particularly the south and Southwest of France. The French and Europeans have never been asked to drink pink sweet as Americans had been when White Zinfandel hit our market. Euroquaffers see it as the summer drink to be swallowed liberally for reason of satisfaction and to slake a thirst.
There really are not GREAT makers of Rose, with perhaps the exception of Domaine Tempier. That is to say, very few wineries are known for making "world class Rose". Some do aspire to this. But it’s a dead end pursuit. Frankly, there never will be a "world class rose". There is nothing complex about the wine. The techniques for making it probably assure this. But moreover, it’s what Rose does to the drinker that assures it will never be a great wine. The wine, particularly when consumed liberally among friends during the rising temperatures of spring and summer, acts to strip away the desire to describe, consider and evaluate.
I’m going to drink Rose Today. I’m not sure which. Many of the 2004s are coming into the stores and shops. They all cost around $15-20. I’m going to buy a case, in fact, and put it away for the month of April. Then I’ll get another case for the month of May. Then I’ll get another case for the month of June. Then I’ll get another case for…
Tom, Tom, Tom . . .
Beat you by one day, and I’m in the midwest! Disgraceful.
Had the first salade nicoise of the year last night with the ’04 Edmunds-St. John Pinc Froid. Lovely stuff, and more pleasing to my high-alcohol-averse palate than anything I’ve been able to source from France or Spain in the last couple of years (Loire roses being my preference, but also being difficult to come by here). Lots of strawberry fruit and a good dose of raspberry too, with a delicious spiciness that lingers through on the finish. Only 13.2% ETOH, and priced in the low teens. See you in Therapy.
Cheers,
Dave
Ahh, rose! Not something I drink a lot. But we did try a very special bottle last year – called Pansy Rose from Kim Crawford Wines in New Zealand. Why is it called Pansy? Follow the link – (http://shirazshiraz.blogspot.com/2004/11/thanksgiving-celebrating-with-gay-wine.html)
Dave:
Beat by a midwesterner? You don’t get sun out there till, June, do you??? I’ve held off as long as possible. Today’s the day. Will probably break into some Roshambo Rose or look for something from France..
Or, Mike, that very very happy Rose is looking good.
First: new site is excellent. Beauty presentation, content (as always) spot on, good organization.
Second: I love rose. I’m trying to get the people I work for to do some bleeds on their Cab Franc so I can get some zippy rose but . . .
Third: What’s this about 3 winter months? Poor bugger. We get 10 months of winter and 2 months of bad sledding.
Here’s my rose fantasy: Me, a bike, dusty backroad of some wine region. I’m wearing a beret! And I sport a pencil thin moustache. I don’t get beat up. On the contrary, a raven haired beauty named Carmen is loooking for a ride. She perches on my handlebars. In her straw basket is cold roasted herbed chicken and various bits of cheese and olives with the requisite baguette. And a magical bottle of wine (rose) that is frosty cool.
We retire to a grassy knoll beneath a tree. Ants know nothing of this place. Bliss
Can a wine be gay?
I picked up a bottle of Kim Crawford Pansy Rosé a few weeks ago ($11.99) and assumed that pansy referred to the color. I have been known to explore rosé wines occasionally, even if my spouse has no interest….
While we don’t have a rose available for April and May, we will release our 2007 Scherzo- Rose of Cabernet on June 4. Yes, made from cabernet sauvignon, with the color of pomagranate seeds. It was in contact with the skins long enough to have some real character and has high enough acid and alcohol to make at very interesting and refreshing. A unique Rose that can be served with almost anything. Available only over the internet.
Peter Kitchak
And the internet address is http://www.kitchakcellars.com
While we don’t have a rose available for April and May, we will release our 2007 Scherzo- Rose of Cabernet on June 4. Yes, made from cabernet sauvignon, with the color of pomagranate seeds. It was in contact with the skins long enough to have some real character and has high enough acid and alcohol to make at very interesting and refreshing. A unique Rose that can be served with almost anything. Available only over the internet.
Peter Kitchak