Since the mercury still pushes past 90 on a regular
basis, what do you sip as a reward for finishing the yardwork, cleaning out the
garage or replacing that leaky commode? A cold beer would be too predictable.
Red wine? Nope, it’s still too hot. A glass of Cabernet, Syrah or Zinfandel is
like wearing a wool blanket on your palate. Chardonnay? Again too predictable.
But what about looking for inspiration through rose colored glasses? Or simply
rose’ in your glass.
Who grows those
pink grapes?
I’ve seen red grapes and white grapes but I’ve never seen
pink grapes that make rose’ wine. Actually, no matter what color appears on the
outside of the grape, the juice in all grapes appear the same – a slight tinge
of yellow even in the darkest red grape. That explains white wines from white
grapes but how do red and rose’ wines get their color if all grape juice is
almost clear? While the free run juice from all grapes are almost clear, the
grape skins contain all of the pigmentation along with essential flavor
components. If you leave that clear grape juice in contact with the grape
skins, eventually some of the red pigments will bleed into the juice first
turning it a pleasing salmon hue eventually to red then a purplish red hue if
skin contact is long enough. In French-speak this method is called the saignee
method.
More often than not, rose’ wine production is simply a
by-product of red wine production. If your winery primarily produces red wine,
to help bolster the concentration of flavor compounds in the finished wine you
can either hope that Mother Nature cooperates and produces perfect growing
conditions that allow you the perfect “hang time” in the vineyards where
sugars, acids and polyphenols are in perfect balance thus producing perfect
wine. Or you can bleed some of the pressed juice so that the grape skins where
flavor components and tannins reside interact with less juice resulting in more
concentrated flavors in the final wine. Almost like adding just 2 cups of water
to your stew instead of 4 cups but still using the same amount of herbs and
spices. The flavors in your stew will be a lot more concentrated. Of course
this “bled” grape juice still has sugars that can ferment and usually has a
pleasing salmon hue so why not also make wine from this juice? For a while,
white Zinfandel was one of America’s most popular wines. Why? A major Zinfandel
producer concentrated his classic red Zinfandel by bleeding some of the pressed
juice and fermented that juice leaving just a touch of sweetness and a pleasing
salmon colored wine – white Zinfandel. The perfect wine for wine drinking
novices with a little sweetness, slightly lower alcohol and a pretty color to
boot!
However, in France there are wineries that specifically
bleed this salmon tinged juice from red grapes just to make a rose’ wine.
Though the starting grape is a red grape, they don’t make any red wines at all.
In Tavel in southern Rhone, they only produce a rose’
wine and because they only concentrate on one type of the wine, the rose’ wines
are as aromatic and complex as many red wines. In fact Louis XIV was such a fan
of Tavel rose’ that it helped continue their production until today.
One of personal favorites are the rose’ from Clos Sainte
Magdeleine which sits on the coast Mediterranean coast made from grenache,
cinsault and mourvedre which are all red grapes but once again, they produce no
red wines, just a rose’ and two white wines (which are also spectacular).
Then, there are wineries that simply produce a rose’ wine
in the simplest fashion – just add some red wine to white just to give it a
salmon colored hue. Most of the ‘reputable” wineries in the US still bleed
their red juice to produce their rose’ but I’m sure the bulk producers (ie, box
wine) simply mix some red wine with white wine to produce rose’ wine. The one
exception is in sparkling wine production and even in “true’ Champagne in
France. Rose’ Champagne along with rose’ sparkling wine in the US simply add
still red wine – usually Pinot Noir – to produce a rose’ sparkler and this
includes the esteemed houses of Krug and Dom Perignon.
But why rose’ for
Hawaii’s climate and food?
For starters, rose’ is always chilled and chilled is
always good when the mercury is pushin’ past 90. Secondly, since rose’ wines
are produced from red grapes, even if their skin contact is limited, they pick
up some of the complex flavors found in red wines but are still refreshing to
drink. And lastly, because of limited skin contact, they usually don’t carry
the tannins found in red wines so they can pair with virtually all types of
food.
And roses (along with off dry Riesling) perfectly
complements the flavors found in Asian cuisine from the sweet and floral star
anise and cinnamon to the herbal lemon grass, cilantro and basil to the earthy
black bean and pepe’au mushroom. The lower alcohol levels in rose also don’t
magnify the chili pepper burn in spicier dishes and if the rose is left with a
little residual sugar, the slight sweetness also balances spicier flavors in
the dish.
My short list of
great rose wines
My Essential Rose
Created by Master Sommelier Richard Betts, this bottle
retails for about $20 and has a nose of dried orange rind, strawberry and
mineral and is pairs with most local dishes and since it has a Stelvin closure,
no corkscrew is needed to get to the wine.
Chateau d’Esclans Whispering Angel
Though they also make a rose approaching $100 per bottle,
the entry level Whispering Angel has a nose of dried citrus peel, good
minerality and is perfect with any seafood, poultry or white meat dish and
retails for just a little more than $20.
Chateau Miraval
Yes, it’s a joint project with the Perrin clan of France
and that Pitt-Jolie couple but it is a very good rose with a nose of light red
fruit and good acidity to cleanse the palate. It does retail for closer to $30
per bottle.
Or, if you prefer a cocktail instead of a glass of rose,
try my version of a great marriage of liquor and wine…
Cocktailin’ the
Rose’
The inspiration for this cocktail comes from the French
75 which combines two of my favorite libations, Champagne and gin. Though this
libation contains no gin, I created my Hawaii twist to the French 75 and wanted
to originally call it the Hawaii 5-0 but I’m pretty sure that the name is copyrighted,
so since my cocktail has two Hawaii based libations, Kai vodka and Lokelani
Rose sparkling wine and it’s garnished with the state flower, I call it the
Hawaii 2.5. Point five because the Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup is actually
made Down Under.
The Hawaii 2.5
1 bottle of chilled Tedeschi Lokelani Rose Ranch
sparkling wine
6 Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup hibiscus buds
1 oz ginger liqueur
2 oz lychee liqueur
3 oz Kai lychee vodka
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