Wine News & Features
Click on the links below to view items from
your selection
Through Rosé-Coloured Glasses
By Carolyn Evans Hammond, for Taste Magazine, Spring 2010
What’s in your glass says more about you than your shoes, your haircut, or your gossipy neighbour. And swanning about with a drink of something dry and pink these days is like showing up at a party with Michael Bublé or January Jones on your arm. From
It used to be that only downy-fresh, debutante-wanna-be, twenty-somethings in Victoria Secret sweats drank pink. Now really concerned, thick-lensed types with furrowed brows on Mediterranean diets, who listen to jazz and read the Globe and Mail are pouring the stuff too. Along with the svelte, smart, successful set with three luxury cars, a ski chalet, two kids, a dog and a nanny. And everyone in between. So what gives?
Well, for one, pink wine is not that sweet anymore. Sure, there will always be Mateus Rosé in its iconic bottle and the ubiquitous Californian White Zinfandels to call on for a little alcopop alternative in a fleeting fit of frivolity, but a serious onslaught of drier rosés are hitting shelves lately too, flashing their pinkly perfect silhouettes, and gaining favour fast. Frankly, drier rosé wines tend to be better quality—sugar can be used to hide flaws in wine—and they usually work better with food. A crisp Côtes de Provence rosé with grilled prawns drizzled with a really good olive oil or brushed with garlic butter? Magic. A drop of cool, dry Spanish pink, flashing fuchsia like a flamenco dancer’s skirt, with slices of spicy Chorizo? An epic win. Pink
Rosé is made one of two ways. It can be done by crushing red grapes and leaving the juice in contact with the skins for a day or two—just long enough to acquire a kiss of colour and berry flavour but not long enough to gain tannin, which would add texture at the expense of the quaff factor. This traditional method is the only way allowed by law throughout Europe—
Plenty of producers are splashing red wine into vats of white to make pink too. Essentially every winemaking area outside of Europe—as well as
And while über-pale, dry rosés are sophisticated and sexy, sweeter rosés are also gaining respectability. No, these aren’t the wines to pour at a chic dinner party with crisp linens but in the right context, they’re fabulous. Outside by the lake? Fantastic. On the patio in
The unspoken rules for rosé? Rule 1: Drink it young and fresh, meaning as close to the vintage date as possible—it doesn’t age gracefully, or even keep particularly well. Rule 2: Drink it well-chilled to ratchet up the refreshment. Rule 3: Drink it during the bright side of the year—Spring and Summer. Now, go don some rosé-coloured glasses.
Recommendations
Strut Risque
This wine will get any party started. It’s one big delicious swirl of fresh cherries, stewed strawberries and ripe raspberries with spicy underpinnings and a silken texture. Quite fruity but finishes bone dry so it works well as a cocktail or food wine. Killer buy.
Chat-en-Oeuf Dry Rosé 2008, Côtes-du-Ventoux,
The tongue in cheek name, “Chat-en-Oeuf”, winks toward the fact this wine hails from the area beside the more famous region, Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It’s an ultra-pale, dry rosé with a lively mix of tart red and sweet black berry flavours with a dash of white pepper. The core of morish minerality gives it a certain gravitas and grown-up feel. Delicious top-notch choice.
Sumac Ridge Estate Winery Private Reserve Rosé 2007,
This quintessential food wine is a crisp, clean, medium-bodied standby that hints at red currant, Red Delicious apple and lemon flavours. Just the thing to cut richer dishes such as chicken in a cream sauce, brie and walnuts baked in filo pastry, or grilled scallops wrapped in bacon.
Yellow Tail Bubbles Rosé NV,
Delicate flavors and aromas of candied citrus and strawberry dance across the palate with each sip of this coral-coloured bubbly. Crisp acidity balances the gentle sweetness.
Henkell Rosé,
Despite the word “dry” on the label, this is a sweeter, softer style of sparkling wine. Captivating aromas of baked apples and crushed raspberries lead to a mouthfilling flood of flavour—cooked apple and stewed bramble notes are spiked with sufficient acidity to cleanse the palate. Crowd-pleasing aperitif.
Freixenet Cordon Rosado Brut Cava NV, Sant Sadurni d'Anoia, Spain, $14.49 352369
For those who like a bone-dry rather austere bubbly, this one’s for you. It’s a pale salmon sparkler shot through with taut acidity and restrained flavours and aromas of dusty apple, subtle cranberry, and fresh cantaloupe. Stylish choice for oysters in the half shell.