This blog is based on the Spirits of New Mexico radio show that aired on November 27, 2021. We do on-air tasting of one or two wines to illustrate what is available in a particular wine region, or as a contrast of what influence a wine region has on a grape or blend. We also contrast wine styles as in the current blog. We use suitable glasses for the type of wine and do a double-decant of red wines to insure they have opened sufficiently for accurate judging.
Assuming we have all recovered from Thanksgiving and perhaps contemplating leftovers and upcoming holiday parties we should cover the other type of wine we missed for Thanksgiving; Rosé. Rosé wines are quite versatile for pairing with foods, display lively colors that visually tell us what the wine might taste like with many featuring a crisp and lively palate.
The French love Rosé wines; they make a ton of them, they export a boatload, but they consume even more than go out the door. Besides the wide range of styles there, we have Rosato in Italy and Rosado in Spain. In the US there are many styles available from lighter, crisper versions to sweeter, fuller styles. This includes so-called blush styles that are generally sweeter, such as white Zinfandel. However the trend most decidedly is drier, crisper styles which enhance their food-friendly characteristics.
Rosé Styles
Many of the lighter pink and crisper Rosé wines, such as classic Provence are more in demand, and winemakers in other countries and regions have taken note. The popularity of Provence-style Rosé is constant, and influences Languedoc and Rhône Rosé wines as well.
However, while it’s the predominant style there are other Rosé wines that produce richer, darker-colored wines that extend food-pairing into typical red wine territory. Longer extraction of the skins pulls in more polyphenols and red wine accents for a deeper, richer Rosé. On a hot summer day this style has less refreshment and lift but in the depths of winter it’s a good alternative.
Color and bottle design
One of the benefits of Rosé is that what you see is what you get. The color ranges from gris or grey, to deep red wines from Tavel and Rioja Rosado. Adding to the variety of color is the myriad of bottle shapes. Rosé is in everything from squat to hourglass to exceedingly tall. Not to mention the Mateus flask and Lancer’s crock. Clearly some manufacturers don’t care if their bottle fits in your wine cellar, let alone a mini-fridge.
Perceptions of Rosé wines have changed over time so that most wine drinkers expect a drier, lighter style, which is partly driven by the millennials and our changing tastes in wine.
Rosé Wine Basics
Rosé wines are made from red wine grapes, using one of four processes.
- Saignée (sohn-yay) or bleeding method: Free run juice, around 10%, bled off for Rosé and permits two wines to be made; Rosé and a richer more intense red wine.
- Free-run juice comes from un-pressed grapes, which can be:
- Blended back into the wine
- Sold as a free run juice wine, which has lower tannin, potassium
- Sold as Saignée Rosé, which has intense, dark colors and uses the juice after 2 hours to 2 days of runoff before pressing and fermented separately
- Because the primary wine is red, grapes are harvested later than for Rosé
- Maceration, similar to conventional red wine, but juice taken off skins after 3 – 24 hours
- The grapes are harvested earlier than for red wine to preserve acidity and red fruit flavors and brighter notes
- Vin Gris: Grey wine, lighter skin grape like Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio, color is pale, not normally grey. There is also no maceration time as is typical of saignee method.
- Blending red and white wines to create Rosé, typical of many Champagne Rosé wines
Domestic Rosé
Considering the classic red grapes used, many areas within the US can make good Rosé; typically using either the Saignée or maceration technique. More sweet versions show up than in the Old World, with sweeter ones identified by long extraction times that make them close to red wines in color. This is certainly true in New Mexico where a Provence-style is seldom made. The broadest range of Rosé is in California, which is where most folks will get their holiday wines.
Region plays less when it comes to Rosé wines as long as the fruit is there. Any area that makes good red wines using any of the classic grapes from Gamay and Pinot Noir to Rhone varietals can make a good Rosé if it is harvested earlier than reds and alcohol and extraction levels are controlled. In many cases the level of sweetness will need to be confirmed. Blush wines normally are done with some amount of residual sugar.
French Rose
If we tried to chart where French Rose wines are made, there are few places that don’t do them regularly, although demand has certainly influenced that. If one includes sparkling Rose then even Champagne and Burgundy are making it. But for still wines, all that’s required is having enough red wine grapes to make a lighter, crisper Rose as those using the saignée process have done for decades.
Rhone Valley
Some of the most popular grapes for Rosé; Grenache, Syrah, Mourvēdre and Cinsault, come from here making lighter to more fuller-bodied wines.
Provence is east of Rhone and along the French coast. Most Rose comes from 4 subregions:
- Côtes de Provence is the largest AOC, and the biggest producer with about 75% of wine production (of which 89% is Rosé), this region is also the most diverse in climate, altitude of vineyards, soils and rainfall. Harvest times range up to 60 days.
- Coteaux d’Aix en Provence is second in size, and heavily influenced by the Mistral winds. Rosé is usually a blend of Grenache, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Syrah and Cournoise.
- Coteaux Varois (ver-wah) de Provence or “The Heart of Provence”, is in the middle of Provence and features undulating limestone mountain ranges so there are a multitude of ‘meso-climates’. Vineyards at higher altitudes benefit from longer, slower ripening, preserving acidity. Rosé wines are crafted from Cinsault, Mourvèdre, Grenache and Syrah
- Bandol has well drained sandy marl and limestone soils perfect for heat loving, late ripening Mourvèdre. The Rose wines are richer and more extracted than classic Provence Rose.
Loire Valley
Cabernet Franc-based Rosé has less tannin than its offspring Cabernet Sauvignon and bright red fruit. Gamay is also popular here and Grolleau (Grow-loh), which are the basis of Rosé d’Anjou; a lush, off-dry wine that even pairs with grilled meats. Cabernet Franc Rosé sometimes uses the saignee process.
Bordeaux
Bordeaux Rosé is made from Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon varieties in which a slight blush or pink color is derived from brief skin contact. The wines are dry and have appealing young cherry and strawberry fruit; and work when summer heat makes a Left Bank Grand Cru a poor choice.
Languedoc-Roussillon
This subregion in southern France has been making more and more quality wines and Rose is no exception. Located to the west of the Rhone Valley, it extends along the Mediterranean Sea to the Spanish border. It contains both coastal, valley and mountainous areas.
- Languedoc covers the northern part and close to the coast
- Roussillon is more southerly, with some subregions further from the coast
- There are 27 subregions and 8 sub-subregions
- Rhone grapes Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah and Carignan.
- Largest wine region in the world, 700,000 acres, 1/3 of French production
- Sable de Camargue, at the mouth of the Rhone delta is known for its vin gris Rose
“In the Languedoc, there’s almost no constraint and no preconceived notions when it comes to making rosé,” Victoria James, sommelier at New York’s Cote and author of Drink Pink: A Celebration of Rosé.
With the Mediterranean coast on the east and the Pyrenees to the south, the region’s varying terroir make a broad spectrum of rosés. Diversity in soil types, ocean breezes and Southern France sun provide the environment for unique vintages and colors from unripe peach to deep coral.
Sable de Camargue
Sable de Camargue is the Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP) title for wines made along the Mediterranean coast of eastern Languedoc in the south of France. It is best known for its Vins Gris (“grey wines”, but effectively skin-contact rosés), made predominantly from Grenache, Cinsaut and Carignan. These and other types of rosé account for over 90 percent of production. Wine searcher website
Terroir: Sable de Camargue (“Sand of Camargue”) covers just a small part of the Languedoc region. The vines are planted on sand dunes, either right next to the sea or further inland, divided by a number of lagoons and salt marshes.
The climate is definitively Mediterranean, with long hot summers and low annual rainfall and a marked marine influence. Sea breezes bring freshness to the vines during the growing season, ensuring the development of acidity alongside phenolic ripeness.
Vineyard management: The high permeability of the soils and the vineyards’ close proximity to the ocean means that vines must be carefully tended by growers. This is done particularly in regards to erosion, irrigation and salinity.
Sand is 90 percent of soil content, almost free of clay and silt. To protect the soil from wind erosion, the vine growers establish other vegetation – generally a cover crop grown between rows of vines – through late autumn to early spring.
From April to November, the foliage of the vine naturally protects the soil from the wind. At the end of the harvest therefore, viticulturists begin cover-crop planting to ensure the plant cover benefits from the October rains and is well established when the vine loses its leaves in November.
To aid drainage there are hundreds of kilometers of man-made canals running through this part of the Camargue. Nevertheless, in parts of the area covered by the IGP, vines spend a small portion of the year awash in the tide. It is this feature, along with the sandy soils, that meant that Camargue vineyards were largely unaffected by the phylloxera louse that devastated the French wine industry in the 1880s.
What we are tasting: Dune Gris de Gris 13% ABV, $11.99 at Total Wine
This has been a go to Rose wine for me since I first tasted it. I first encountered wines from this region while vacationing in St Martin on the French side. I grabbed a couple of bottles in a little grocery store because they looked good. After I tasted the first one I made it a point to include a couple every time we bought wines, which was a lot. Did I mention this was the French side of a duty-free island?
Analysis
Both Eddy Aragon and Dr. Summers, who has a show preceding mine, were very taken with the Aligoté (see next blog) and the Dune Rosé. I was very impressed with the floral and citrus nose of the Aligoté. The palate was medium weight, showing good fruit composition and good minerality with a lively crispness. The Dune Rosé is a pale, salmon color with crisp acidity, minerality and salinity, strawberry and red cherry, rounded out with cantaloupe melon notes. This is a very addictive wine that invites the next sip.
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