Boy, you really don't like rose, do you?

As noted in yesterday's post about rose, it's far from the most popular topic on the blog. But not even the Wine Curmudgeon realized how little wine drinkers like rose. Hardly anyone showed up to read it -- my visitor numbers were equal to those of a Sunday, about one-quarter less than normal.

Never fear, though. You won't dissuade me from my quest to convince Americans it's OK to drink pink wine. I am, after all, the Wine Curmudgeon.

Comments

[Tom Johnson]

Most rose is dull, is the problem. It's dull because of the way it's made. As you know, rose is the product of an abortive winemaking process, in which the juice is removed from the red skins, sacrificing flavor for the sake of pretty pretty color.

There is another species of rose that isn't based on deliberately weakening the wine. Peter Cargasacchi's Celestina Pinot Grigio is instructive. It's made from a grey/orange grape and the juice is left on the skins for a longer-than-normal time to give the wine a little tannic grip. The wine is, in effect, over- rather than under-cooked, resulting in an orange color and special added bonus flavors.

That's ros worth drinking. And there's damned little of it around because it's so much easier to make pretty pink crap that has no other redeeming qualities.

[Mandy]

Haha, I can't believe that many people don't like rose!! There are some extremely good, cheap roses around us in Spain and I usually have a bottle every week. I find it usually to be a great food wine and a few of the better ones are excellent for spicy dishes.

[Michael Tarelka]

Tom is almost correct. The process he is alluding to is called saignée, where a winemaker will bleed off juice from something like a syrah to improve body and concentarte flavor.

However other roses are made to be what they are, delightful subtle flavored wines to be enjoyed now.

I like them and try and sample everyone I come across, usually with very satisfying result.

[Doug]

Wonderful summer wine, cold rose out on the lake very refreshing. Not your Momma's rose.

[Bob N]

We stock up for the summer with an array of dry french and US rosés. They pair wonderfully with so many summer dishes and they tend to be less expensive than their red counterparts that we tend to drink in colder weather. Personally I hope not to many others "discover" the secret!

[Tom Johnson]

Michael, it's dangerous to start a comment with "Tom is almost correct," because Tom has a lot of free time on his hands and endless vanity. Almost right, you say? Almost right?

The process I was describing was not saignée; it is, instead, something called "how rosé is made." Which is to say, by removing the not-fully fermented wine from the red grape skins to keep the wine from absorbing too much color -- which has the coincidental effect of keeping it from absorbing flavor.

Saignée is something else entirely, a bit of tactical winemaking that gave us, among other things, white zinfandel. In the case of saignée,your beloved rosé could best be described as a side effect -- which I think is more helpful to my argument than yours.

We can debate whether the standard method of turning fairly good grapes into rosé is an abortive process or not, and you can describe for me (as lots of other people have)lovely, lavender-scented afternoons in Provence, quaffing simple, accessible rosé out of pitchers, and I can dig around in my records for a link to that study five years ago that pointed out that 90% of wine professionals couldn't identify rosé while blindfolded. What would that accomplish except giving me the chance to reprise all the snotty rosé jokes I've written in the last ten years. I have a feeling I'd enjoy that more than you did.

So do the world a favor. Take back that part about me being "almost correct." Say instead, "Tom left out an interesting aspect of winemaking I thought you'd like to hear about..." Then we can all go on living our lives in peace.

[Milos Radulovic]

Tom, I agree, can't believe that some people don't like rose.

There are few methods of making rose wine:

- Saignee
- Presse or pressing
- Limited maceration
- Run off
- Blending (not acceptable in some countries)