Pink Wine, Pink Wine Everywhere

National Rosé Day is this Saturday, June 8th. Learn all about the pink wine that is in fact everywhere during the spring and summer. Ellen Clifford is here to breakdown rosé country by country and give you her best pick for rosé shower wine. Cheers! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “Where you drink your rosé from is a badge of honor,” declared restaurateur/all-over-wine-badass Matthew Kaner in a seminar on Loire Valley wines. I couldn’t agree more. Rosé gets respect these days. I’ve long declared my rosé badge to be Tavel, but get me going on styles of rosé and “my absolute favorites” list expands. Rosé comes in many guises and there is love in my heart for them all. And that’s before I even bring up bubbly rosé—SO MUCH PINK! Is it un-goth or subversive ultra-goth of me to be so obsessed? There is a belief that has been propagated that both Kaner and I would like to change, which is that rosé has to be dry and of the current vintage. Well. Rosé comes in every rosy shade under the occasionally-Tuscan sun, and sometimes they aren’t completely bone dry. And sometimes they are more than a year old and that’s okay, or even a good thing! Sweet does not equal Sutter Home. I will now delve into the wealth of rosé subcategories. I guess I should declare a shower rosé. Even though I shouldn’t. Yet I persevere in frivolity because life is bats and short. Chateau Trinquevedel remains my heart-throb lover so if I feel luxurious I’d take that. Although my local Angeleno Wine “The Meadow” vibes with everyday bathing. Either is a thrill. Let’s get on with business, country by country. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ITALY-PINOT GRIGIO RAMATO Did you know that rosé can be made of Pinot Grigio? The grape’s skin has a slightly pink tinged skin. It may be blushing because it has such a bad reputation now. Take a look at the next Pinot Grigio or Pinot Gris you drink and see if you don’t see a hint of copper. In Italian “Rame” means copper and in Friuli they call their Pinot Grigio rosés “Ramato”, which actually translates to auburn. Either way I’ve been a bit of a “quality Pinot Grigio/Gris rocks” evangelist so I am vibing hard on the Ramato. - 2018 Attems Pinot Grigio Ramato Light with a bite. Quite a bit of melon. I imagine lying in the sun (in my imagination my pale self won’t burn) eating ice-cold paper-thin slices of honeydew and cantaloupe and perhaps even watermelon that have just a small sprinkle of salt and lime juice. And maybe there is a sprinkler to run through. I dig. ITALY-CHIARETTO (BARDOLINO!) If you see an Italian wine called Chiaretto, it’s a rosé. Bardolino is the also-ran subregion of the Veneto, a region where Valpolicella gets a lot more glory. Perhaps it is the alliteration. Vardolino anyone? Anyway, Bardolino Chiaretto is made primarily of the same grapes as Valpolicella: Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara. ITALY-CERASUOLO Is it a deep rosé or a light red? I will let you make the call, but the name comes from Cerasuolo’s cherry-red hues.. If you see a bottle of Cerasuolo d’Abruzza, please give this Montepulciano-based wine a whirl. And use it to convince your friend that says they hate rosé that they are wrong. I did. Annona makes one of my favorites. FRANCE-LOIRE VALLEY There are 5 major categories I think of when it comes to the Loire Valley. After all, they produce more rosé than red there! Rosé de Anjou is a genre with a minimum of 7g/L residual sugar (RS) that tends to be based on Grolleau and may also contain Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay, Pineau d’Aunis and Côt, aka Malbec. With a minimum of 10 g/L of RS, Cabernet d’Anjou is based on both Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The dry answer to these sweet guys is Rosé de Loire, again usually a blend of the myriad red grapes you will find in the Loire. Lastly I’ll give nods to Sancerre, where rosé is made of Pinot Noir and Chinon, where Cabernet Franc is the grape of choice. Two exemplary picks: - Marquis de Goulaine Rosé d’Anjou Off-dry and that is a good thing! This has acid to back it up. Imagine taking one of those strawberry candies that comes in the wrapper printed to look like it is one, unwrapping it, and chucking it into a glass of lime-aid. I LOVE this wine. - Le Charmel Rosé de Loire Zingy on the nose, a summer sipper all day. Half Cabernet Franc, half Gamay, 100% gulpable by the pool. FRANCE-MARSANNAY If you cannot get enough Pinot Noir rosé from Sancerre how about one with nerd intel from Burgundy? Marsannay is the only village-level AOC in Burgundy that includes rosé. Marsannay rosé is going to be mineral and brisk. At least all my interactions with it have been. It is a small appellation, and you might need to work to find it but… you will sound cool telling your peeps that they are drinking the only appellation in Burgundy for rosé, so do it up. - 2017 Domaine Audoin Marsannay Lemon limestone was my tasting note. Biting minerality and wants salty cheese. Or fries but rosé always wants fries and vice versa. Drinkable on its own though, even better with a salty snack. FRANCE-PROVENCE Fun fact: They make pale pink wine in Provence. Oh you heard? Oh but did you know that hourglass shaped bottles that are traditional there are called “skittles”? I just learned that. Sure, Provence makes goodly amounts of summer water bland pinks, but if you want to taste the rosé rainbow you’ll need to include the subregion of Bandol in your tastings. Domaine Tempier Bandol rosé is my pinnacle of Provençal wine. Made of primarily the Mourvedre grape, it is my sweet heaven. For the rest of the regional wine though, there’s so much pale porch pounder swill. But, if you are at the grocery store grab that funny shaped Miraval. OR then there is: - 2017 Chateau de Roquefort ‘Corail’ Rosé It’s Syrah based! Red and white grapefruit, white cranberries, salinity and a touch of floral white pepper funtime. And of course, I love a winery with a cheese name. FRANCE-TAVEL Tavel is the area in the Southern Rhône where only rosé is allowed. It will be Grenache and Cinsault based and it will be a deep pink. I’ve tried a lot of Tavel in my short time in wine because it is my favorite and for my money—or anyone’s money, really—you cannot do better than Chateau de Trinquevedel . FRANCE-CORSICA Corsica is the French outlier-an island closer geographically to Italy. The grapes are different and so is the rosé. It will be a fuller style than most Provence although still distinctive from Tavel. Grapes used there include Nielluccio (aka Sangiovese), Grenache, Sciaccarella and Vermentino. - 2015 Domaine Antoine Arena Patrimonio Rosé (80% Nielluccio, 20% Vermentino) It’s got minerals and notes o’ lemongrass for days. And a creaminess which I’m guessing comes from malolactic fermention. There’s a lemon yogurt tang to it I dig which is funny because I tend to hate yogurt. But I’m into this one. SPAIN-TXAKOLINA (OR TXAKOLI) Fun to say (chock-oh-LEE-na), even funsier to imbibe. It comes from the Basque! They have an affinity for making it crisply bubbly ever so slightly. And so far every example I have had is mildly spritzy, so get ready for crisp. Hondarrabi Zuri is the white grape of the region and Hondarrabi Beltza the red. I cannot honestly say I’ve had enough to speak authoritatively on it but I will confidently recommend you try the following if you see it: - Ameztoi Rubentis Getariako Txacolina Hondarrabi Beltza Hondarabbi Zuri Rosé Lightly effervescent. Highly addictive. Peachy and mineral and gulpable. You should, you must. UNITED STATES-OREGON Once upon a time David Lett planted Pinot Noir in Oregon, and it was good. Eyrie was the first. I just realized that Pinot Noir is ubiquitous as a rosé. Given its high acid, low tannins and friendly cherry nature I suppose it makes sense. I recommend Gothic Wine rosé (of course I do) but also: - 2017 Maison Noir Love Drunk Rosé SO much Maison Noir has going for it beyond a goth-adjacent name. I love wines names for love and I also love puns, so I love the fact that the wine comes from “Garage d’Or” as the label notes (okay so on the back it mentions that it is Oregon but ya know) and I also love well-made wine. It is a lime-cherry-kiwi fizz without the fizz. Effervescent sans bubbles. Energetic rosé. As hyper as new love can be. UNITED STATES-CALIFORNIA Oh Cali, you do it all. From boxed sweet plonk to the most elevated of rosés. From light pounders to wines on par with Southern Rhone heavyweights. I am going to rattle off some favorites I’ve written up and then highlight my recent findings below. The regular solid hits: Seebass “Fantasie” , Angeleno Wine’s “The Meadow", and Dragonette Happy Canyon are just a few of my ride or dies. Below, a couple of my newfound favorites. Get in. Especially the first because it is White Zin You Need. In Your Life. - Pedroncelli Dry White Zinfandel Non-sweet fruit punch with a freshness factor. Try this, and try their regular Zin! - 2018 Bonny Doon Vineyard Vin Gris de Cigar Look I cannot get enough word play, especially as it pertains to wine, French Stuff, and outer space. Although I’d like Uranus jokes over UFO ones. That joke wrote itself only because I also adore alliteration. Anyway this homage to Chateauneuf de Pape’s refusal to allow UFOs in its terroir (I wouldn’t let them in mine either, honestly) is ever so transparent, ever so zing pow wow, but shhhhhh chillout sweet baby that I am now a Bonny Doon convert. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Want to read more from Ellen? Check out her recent articles: Seder Sips Old World vs. New World Round Five: Zinfandel! But Is It Vegan? Classic Pairings for the Veggie Soul: Pairing Five Classic Pairings for the Veggie Soul: Pairing Four You can also listen to Ellen's podcast with Shaughn Buchholz, The Wine Situation here .