Robot-shaped bodies assisted with immense shoulder pads, those garish colours, killing the ozone layer with excessive hairspray use and mass production of poor quality rosé wine.
Whilst I admit that as I child I loved colours, whether it be any kind of colouring activity, or my clothes and shoes, and I still continue to opt for colour rather than dark or formal colour options, my wine choices until I moved to Spain never included Rosé.
Should I blame my parents for being 20- and 30-somethings in the 80's, trying out such delights as Portugal's Mateus or more often still the Italian Lambrusco, or is it my own fault for being the type of child to always drink off the top when noone was looking and so attempt wine appreciation from a young age.
Whatever the reason, it is only in the last years that I have really started to enjoy rosé wine and am still learning which are the bottles that should be kept in the fridge just in case the girls stop by Sunday afternoon and which should be avoided at all costs.
I've heard horror stories of American rosé's which could be described as a whole genre of wine unto themselves. Remember as a child when you believed that the pink colour was a result of mixing white and red wines together? Well, excluding a few bottles, the general consensus still tends to be to stick to European bottles over American ones. I admit that I have never knowingly tried an American Rosé so I am basing this knowledge on that passed to me by others who have.
On the other hand, I have a fair bit of experience in enjoying bottles originating from France, Spain and Italy which tend to be drier in their flavour in the case of the majority of bottles, although there are many notable exceptions. Spain, where the bottle of choice is very much a red one, has an almost equal selection of whites as it does rosé's.
For me, white and rosé have a lot in common, not just in that they are both young bottles that should be enjoyed rather than stored away, yet their production is more similar to that of red, for including the grape skin. Unlike white, I find that rosé wine tends to compliment more meal choices. Whether your plate is a spicy curry, steak, fish or a creamy risotto, rosé is the perfect choice for filling your wine glass. Dessert is another story and I admit there are not so many rosé's which can compliment a death by chocolate dessert, but if your option is cheese and wine, then you are on to a winner.
So how is rosé wine made?
In short, the skin of the grape is added to the fermentation for a short period of time, richer colours of wine are achieved for leaving the skin with the liquid for a longer period of time.
Rosé can also be achieved by a process called 'saignée' which is draining or bleeding red wine when it is at its early stages and then continuing the process with the 2 different wines apart.
In the case of most red wines and many whites, flavour is added to the wine by using oak casks, with different barrels capable of having significant effect on the overall result. A good rosé wine does not require extra help to enhance it's flavour. Quality grapes, combined with an experienced winemaker will produce your pink nectar without a need for enhancement so you can enjoy the true richness of the rosé wine every time.
Ah, I remember well the heady days of courting in the seventies when Mateus Rosé was THE sophisticated drink. The girls could so often be impressed by my insistence on the wine being so very very chilled. Later on, after marriage, but before kids, a Mateus bottle used as a candle holder with the melted wax creating the required "Gaudi" effect down the side of the basket, could create the right romantic mood that eventually made those damn kids that spoiled it all!
ReplyDeleteLambrusco became the chavs'favourite, but for me the English "Concorde" Rosé was far better.
Great post, I'm looking forward to trying some more dry, savoury rose's this summer. An underrated wine with plenty to offer!
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