The Wine Knows

(Note to self.... how do I get that apostrophe thing above the "e"??)

Another sweet rose' is from Rulo. They do a syrah rose' that kicks some serious booty. Barnard Griffins, often fawned over here, is another favorite. One of the best I have had is from Robert Karl Cellars. Their rose' of Cab Franc is a monster. We always buy several bottles to get us through the summer (and winter!), and are always sad when it is gone.

Cheers!
Tim

Our favorite rose's include Thurston Wolfe, Hedges CMS, Coyote Canyon, and Tiny Hiney ( Hiney Wines, Walla Walla.)

Over here in Olympia, it has been very hard to find rose' unless I go to a wine shop. At Top Foods ( which has two wine specialists) they send me over to the White Zin or to French or Italian brands ( I have two bottles of Cote Du Rhone Parallele 45 from Paul Jaboulet Aine.) I have asked them to please try to stock some Washington Rose' but they blame their distributors for not being able to get any. The Pinot rose's from Oregon are a bit out of my price range.

When I was learning to drink wine, Rose' was my drink of choice because it was sweet. As I learned more about wine, I gave up on it, and reluctantly tried it again a couple of years ago when in Walla Walla. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Rose' no longer means fruit punch!

We will be back over in August and I hope to refill my stock of Rose's to get me through the hot weather we always get in September. If anyone has other favorites, in the "daily drinkable" price range, or close to it, I would really like to hear about them.

CJ in Olympia

It is easy to make pink wine. Making a delicious rosé is another matter. The problem is (and has been) that too many producers go the easy route and eventually ruin the reputation of the wine. It was the rage in the '60s then it became declassé. Now that a couple generations have forgotten the past, will consider drinking it, it is time to screw it up again. I have been disappointed with several of the new brands capitalizing on rose's growing popularity including one expensive one that is sweetened up to 1960 standards. I predict we will see a lot of white wine colored up with red wine and sweetened with concentrate over the next few months. My opinion on saignee is that it is possible make a nice rosé by saignee, but rarely happens because the grapes are usually picked at a ripeness optimum for red wine, not for rosé. In addition saignee frequently harms the balance of the wine it is supposed to be improving particularly if it is on Pinot or the winemaker also opts for extended maceration.

Is getting it into the drinkers glass. From there on rose is easy to sell. There is still a lot of stigma from the Franzia White zinfandel days, but with more and more producers focusing on Rose, excellent examples of this wine are fast becoming more commonplace (and at very competitive prices). Producing it can also be advantageous to wine makers (specifically Pinot producers) who employ a saignee method of extracting pink colored wine from their red wine tanks because it can concentrate the color in the red wine that is left behind (therefore making it more accessible to American palates that are stuck on the belief that darker is better).

Here is what I could find for wine consumption in the United states.

(2005)
41.69% red wine
40.9% white wine
17.41% rosé wine

I am curious to see where rosé fits into more recent polls. I would guess to say that more rosés are consumed during summer months, due to the style of wine.

David