Americans finally are giving rosés the chance they deserve
We arrived home the other day to find our daughter Zoe, a talented photographer, taking pictures of some wine bottles that we had taken out of shipping crates earlier. The wines were rosés and, lined up on the table, they were as pretty as the colors of the sunrise, from light pink to blazing orange.
As it happens, the sun is rising on rosé. We've been saying since 2000 that Americans finally seemed ready to put aside their unpleasant memories of Mateus, Lancers and sweet White Zinfandel and give well-made, dry rose a chance. We said two years ago that the floodgates of rosé were beginning to open. Well, whooooosh. They're wide open now.
France is the classic home of dry rosé, of course. Spain has been producing some outstanding roses in the past few years at bargain prices and we've found that American wineries have come a long way with them over just the past few years. So, with so many rosés on shelves now, we decided it was time for a world-wide taste-off. Just how well is the rosé picture developing?
We bought 50 rosés from the 2005 and 2006 vintages from around the world. Some were made with classic rose grapes like Grenache, while others were more surprising. One wine from Australia, for instance, was made partly from Dolcetto, which is best-known for making a delightful red wine in Italy.
Rosé is created by leaving the juice in contact with the dark skins of the grape for a brief time. Some rosés can be quite light in color, while others can be almost red. What makes a rosé work, in the long run, is ripe fruit with plenty of balancing acids. While we generally prefer dry rosés, they can certainly succeed with some sweetness if the acidity is good enough.
To us, successful rosés have the best qualities of red and white wines: a bit of the steely intensity and freshness of a white with some of the depth and weight of a red. These wines should be long on charm, with the kind of lively, clean finish that calls out for food -- and another sip.
Because we find well-made rosé such a delight, we looked forward to this tasting, in which we included a broad geographic sweep in each flight, with great anticipation. Man, were we in for a letdown.
It's clear that, because rosé is the trend of the moment, wineries all over the world are rushing out pinks without a great deal of thought or care. The majority of wines we tasted were simply OK. They lacked intense fruit and a vision of what makes a rosé unique. They were often sweet and sometimes, incredibly, oaky. Some tasted lab-made. Far too many simply tasted blah.
To be sure, there were some excellent rosés. Spain once again showed well with Bodegas Muga, a longtime favorite that's always a good deal at about $11. And we were once again charmed by Toad Hollow from Sonoma County California ($10.99). Half of our favorites came from France, including our best of tasting, Chateau de Segries, a Tavel made from 50 percent Grenache, 30 percent Cinsault, 15 percent Clairette and 5 percent Syrah ($12.99). The winery made about 4,200 cases; 1,200 were imported and distributed to 46 states.
We fear that Americans, who are now willing to dip their tongues back into rosé, may once again be turned off if they taste undistinguished wines. So we'd urge caution. Studying our favorites, we did find some clues that might help you shift the odds in your favor. First, stick with 2006 -- or even 2007 when those rosés start arriving soon from the Southern Hemisphere. Second, France really does continue to set the standard and is a good default choice.
Third, interestingly, all three of our U.S. favorites were made from Pinot Noir (the Toad Hallow, Etude Wines 2005, $21.99 and Robert Sinskey Vineyards 2006, $18.99) and we'd remember that when choosing an American pink. Fourth, stick with wineries that have been doing this with some distinction for a while, wineries for whom blush wines are a passion, not a passing fancy or cash cow.
Fifth, while a third of our sample cost less than $10, none of our favorites did (although price alone is no guarantee,
Finally, the most important piece of advice we'd give is this: If you taste a rosé that isn't affirmatively charming and doesn't aggressively make the case to your palate that blush wines deserve a place in your life, don't give up on them. Try another. There are many good ones out there, and during the summer a good rosé wine really is a very special accompaniment to light meals and sunny days.
Dorothy J. Gaiter and JohnBrecher write Tastings for theWall Street Journal.Write themat wine@wsj.com and readmore about wine in their book,"Wine for Every Day and EveryOccasion: Red,White, andBubbly to Celebrate the Joy ofLiving."