Stop it I'm Blushing

Rosés have a bad reputation, one that is undeserved.  Most people would associate these wines with poorly made, intensely sweet and fruity wines lacking depth and nuance. Yet I am unsure why, perhaps something to do with some poorly made Mateus or misconception about the process, many believe it involves mixing red and white grapes prior to pressing, or mixing red and white wine prior to bottling.  But, in reality, mixing of white and red, while one method, is very rare and frowned upon by quality winemakers.  Instead, rosés gain their blush from the same method reds receive their deep colours, just in a less intense manner.  Contact with grape skins and stems imparts the colour, tannins and phenols to red wine.  A rosé  is made by limiting this contact to no more than a few days early in the process.  After pressing, the juices are allowed to remain in contact with the skins for only a short time and then one of two things happen: either the entire volume of juice is extracted and placed in vats for fermentation or only a portion of the juice is extracted, more for the purpose of intensifying the tannins in the remainder of the volume.  This latter method is known as saignée.

Whether the entire volume or just a portion of the juice is extracted the rest of the process is the same as making white or red wines.  Rosés tend to have some of the same characteristics as good red wines in the nose and on the palate with less of the complexities that come from tannins and phenols.  This makes them dry, fruity, acidic and what people would call lighter or brighter in flavour.  Oak barrels may or may not be used in the aging of the wine.  Historically, rosés came from the grape varieties that make for good light to medium bodied reds, such as Gamay, Corvina, Dolcetto and Beaujolais.  But recently there has been a trend to the heavier varieties like Syrah and Granache and even Merlot.

Rosé sales in France have now exceeded sales of white wine.  This, perhaps more than any other argument, speaks loudly to the quality of rosé production around the globe.  Rosé's popularity may also be gaining in conjunction with the growth in popularity of grilling and barbecuing.  These wines are perfect for when you are enjoying a variety of dishes where exact matching is impossible without having several bottles on hand.  Perfect for picnics, parties and barbeques, rosés will not soon lose their reputation as the wine of choice for summer patios.

Now on to my picks:  as you recall I picked two of the Vintages selection from LCBO.  The first was L'Amphore de Provence 2010 from Provence, France $13.95cad.  The second was Chateau De Fontelles Tenue de Soirée Rosé 2010 from Midi, France $13.95cad.  Both wines were selected because they were under $15cad and received excellent scores in the Vintages catalogue.

The tasting was conducted at my friend BW's house and I cooked a barbeque lemon-herbed chicken with roasted golden beets, grilled summer squash and a salad of wild arugula and sorrel.  Both wines held up nicely to the chicken and the Provence selection was excellent with the salad, cutting the acidity of the dressing nicely.  The Midi wine was by far the more substantial of the two, having been derived from a syrah and granache mix, this went extremely well with the chicken.  The Fontelles was also much darker in colour.  We concluded that the Fontelles would be the wine of choice if you tended to lean toward a preference for red wines, while the L'Amphore would be more suited to people who preferred a white.  Both wines offered a depth not typical to white wines and without the tannins and phenols of red.  If you were only to choose one wine, and at $13.95 the price is hardly prohibitive, I would lean toward the Fontelles.

Just a personal note about the food.  I have said for some time that, when it comes to bbq, BW easily holds her own with anyone.  She has, for as long as I recall, followed religiously the instructions in the Weber bbq guide that came with her Weber grill.  The Chicken was amazing.  The skin was exceptionally crispy and the meat was tender and succulent.  The key to good grilling is to have faith and allow the grill to work by leaving the lid alone. If you haven't a guide that came with your Weber grill, then definitely click on the Amazon link and get the Weber guide with recipes.  You won't regret.