A Rosé Is A Rosé By Any Other Name

And now for your national forecast: Tuesday heavy rains heading east shaving some of the heat off the eastern states. By Wednesday the front will still be over the southeastern US with the northern tier remaining unsettled with rain. Highs 96° in NY, 92° in Dallas and 80° in Chicago and Seattle will be warming up to 70° by Thursday.

Well, unless you are one of the 583,000 (+/-) who live in Seattle, then you are experiencing some sweltering weather. This is especially true if you live in the southern states stretching from Arizona all the way through to Florida and from eastern Arkansas, western Tennessee and up to Ohio all the way to way upstate New York and beyond. It’s scorcher weather. You are a red wine lover but who can think of red wine at this time?

Think Rosé instead! Rosé is different; it has all the refreshing characteristics of white wine with many of the same qualities that we love in red wine.

Rosés are made by leaving the skins in contact with the wine for a set amount of time before being extracted. The skin, along with the pips and stems are what give red wine its color. Likewise, it is what gives Rosés color depending on the amount of time the wine has been allowed contact with these elements. The longer the skin, pips and stems stay in the tank, the darker the color will be. Most Rosés are left in contact with these elements for just a few hours but some as much as overnight – few French labels will note Rosé d’une nuit, which means that the wine was left in contact with the skins overnight.

Rosé is not a blending of red and white wine with the exception of Champagne Rosé. Otherwise Rosé can be made as described above or by the bleed off method known as Saignée method. In this case, only a small portion of juice is bled away from the skins to make rosé. (The remaining juice stays in contact with the skins. Because there is a greater surface area ratio of skins to juice after the bleed, more color and complexity can be extracted from the skins into the red wine-to-be.) Rosé wine then goes through the same process as white wine.

What you get when you buy a Rosé is a crisp, refreshing wine with red wine structure like the Bokisch Vineyards Rosado. This Rosé is made in the Mediterranean tradition – dry and crisp yet fruity and lively on the palate. Made from Garnacha (aka Grenache), its beautiful pink color with hints of orange lead to a nose of strawberry with hints of roses. Sadly the Bokish Rosado is made only in small batches. The 2005 was only 160 cases and the 2007 is only 42 cases. If you get your hands on a bottle of this lovely wine you’ll enjoy it chilled with paella, tapas (chorizo, cheese, olives and almonds) or grilled foods. You will also enjoy it as a sipping wine; one to share with friends by the poolside or while sitting under the shade of an old oak tree. Cheers!