Silk blouses, light dresses, espadrilles and sandals, long afternoons and a glass of rosé wine in your hand… That is more or less the description of an ideal late spring/early summer day… And rosé wines make summertime sweeter though a well-made one pairs beautifully a great variety of dishes all year round.
From light salmon-pink-hued to intense fleshy strawberry-hued rosés spring and early summer is maybe the best season to enjoy them! The reasons are multiple; for fresh rosés (of north hemisphere) 3-5 months after bottling, white and rosé wines start to open up and express themselves in a quite social way, moderate environmental temperatures impose drinking something fresh yet not ice-cold, seasonal food like asparagus, strawberries, young lamb, lobsters, langoustines and coquilles Saint-Jacques pair beautifully with a wide range of rosés (personally I take still or sparkling rosé as the only choice), all those floral scents in the air put us to temptation to drink something which smells close…
Having light-hued rosés as the big trend around the world, especially during summertime, with added ice cubes in the glass (yak!!!), there are a lot of misconceptions about the color and the prestige of a rosé wine.
Being an enologist and a winemaker for years, having rosé wine as my personal fetish and making 6 different still and sparkling rosés, I can assure you that prestige, high quality and finesse have nothing to do with the color of rosé wine.
Technically, color in rosé and red wines are related to the varietals and the time of contact of must with grape skins. Anatomically, in a grape berry, color is only contained (in the big majority of varieties) in the skin: so the more skins are soaked in must the darker the color plus more aromas, taste and eventually tannins. Think about it as a cup of tea: the more minutes you soak the tea bag in hot water the more color and strength you get.
So, somebody could say that it’s all a matter of taste. Well, in case of wine it’s a matter of taste but in the meantime it’s a matter of quality and potential, too. While in the case of tea, you are going to drink it in half an hour, a bottle of rosé wine can be opened in one month to 5 years -or much more in some cases-after bottling.
“Well, in case of wine it’s a matter of taste but in the meantime it’s a matter of quality and potential, too.”
Crabs, coquilles Saint-Jacques and langoustines in Bastille, Paris
A pond with wild ducks at Calouste Gulbenkian museum in Lisbon
Edenia Rosé: an organic Brut Quality Sparkling wine from Limniona grapes
“In the end, no one can disagree that with a glass of rosé everyone could fall in love… So be careful… With what and with whom you fall in love…”
Thus, if you lavish to drink something fresh, young, light, feathery, uplifting, easy-going go ahead to a light-to-watery rosé and you may keep in mind that you don’t need to spend a fortune to taste a nice wine of that style, just chill it a lot.
But if you looking for something true, concentrated, complex, fleshy, fruity, mineral, a wine with strong-yet-kind character, meaning a wine that can be touched by time in a beautiful way, don’t hesitate to taste salmon-pink to rosy-close to fuchsia- hued rosé wines! These ones have the phenolic potential-aka the strength- to evolve in time and provoke your senses and your mind.
In general terms, referring to “international” varieties light-hued rosé wines are made from Pinot Noir, Grenache (or Garnacha), Cabernet Franc, Zinfandel whereas darker-hued ones are made from Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvèdre and Barbera while Merlot, Tempranillo and Sangiovese can play both sides.
Talking about Greek varieties- which present diversity and originality- light-colored rosés are made from Xinomavro (light-hued still showing back-bone and minerality), Moschofilero (floral, crispy and fresh) and Muscat of Hamburg (floral, fruity and round) whilst darker and richer rosés are made from Limniona (vivid ruby-hued, fruity, spicy and rich) and Agiorgitiko (fruity, round and earthy).
In the end, no one can disagree that with a glass of rosé everyone could fall in love…
So be careful…with what and with whom you fall in love…
Like when Billie Holiday sings April in Paris:
I never knew the charm of spring
I never met it face to face
I never knew my heart could sing
I never missed a warm embrace
Till April in Paris, chestnuts in blossom
Holiday tables under the trees
April in Paris, this is a feeling
That no one can ever reprise
I never knew the charm of spring
I never met it face to face
I never knew my heart could sing
I never missed a warm embrace
Till April in Paris
Whom can I run to
What have you done to my heart
Cheeers and don’t hesitate to fall in love!!
Jardin du Luxembourg
