Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Dry rose: the other white wine
Gordon Kendall
Gordon Kendall's column, "Good Libations," runs monthly in Extra. He welcomes readers' questions and comments about wine, beer or spirits.
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If you want to have some fun at a social gathering, offer a glass of dry rose to someone who thinks of himself as a wine aficionado.
The reaction is almost always the same. The taster will contort his face in a scowl of pure disdain and proclaim, "I'm not drinking any of that nasty, pink, sweet swill!"
At this point, you can coax him into sampling it: "Try it! It's dry and delicious." Once the taster gets past this moment of cognitive dissonance and releases his preconceived notions, he can enjoy a lively and refreshing summer thirst quencher.
Granted, most domestic pink wines are sweet, insipid plonk more akin to a sugar-water solution containing a dollop of alcohol and an eyedropper full of raspberry flavor. Sweetness covers up undesirable flavors, so these wines have broad appeal.
Conversely, the Europeans have been complementing their summer fare with delicious dry rose for years. The best dry rose (pronounced row-zay) available locally is produced in Spain and southern France.
The production method is interesting. The primary ingredients are red grapes that usually contain clear juice. After winemakers harvest these grapes they crush the entire berry, including skin, pulp and seeds, and allow the concoction to steep at a cool temperature for a while. After a short time, some juice, which has now absorbed a pink tint from the skins, is drained off and placed in a separate vessel. This process is called saignee, from the French verb for "to bleed," and it serves two functions. The wine left behind with the skins will now produce a more concentrated and deeply colored red wine, while the pink wine that has been bled off will be fermented separately to dryness.
The process is the same when making sweet white zinfandel, except the fermentation process is halted by chilling the tank before the yeast converts all of the alcohol to sugar, leaving about 2 percent residual. European roses are usually fermented completely dry, with negligible sweetness.
The zenith of dry rose producers is Tavel, France. This village, located on the right bank of the Rhone valley in southern France, is noted for producing a fresh, intense rose from red Grenache and Cinsaut grape varieties. In some other southern French appellations, Syrah is also used.
Tavel rose is usually priced in the mid- to upper-teens, but the roses from other nearby areas are usually well under $10 retail, making them a great bargain.
How do you know if a rose is dry? Almost any pink wine produced in France or Spain will be fermented dry. Anything labeled as "blush" is probably sweet.
If you need further assurance, check the alcohol content. Dry wines will usually have a least 12 percent or higher alcohol. (A lower number indicates residual sugar that was not fermented.) These wines deteriorate with age, so younger is better.
Dry rose is one of the few wines that's best well-chilled. Tasters will experience aromas of wild strawberries and possibly watermelon. Though bone dry, the wine's fruit will trick you into thinking it has a trace of sweetness accompanied by bright red berry flavors.
Fresh, light and quaffable, rose will match with most any food, from salad to seafood to grilled burgers and meats. Avoid serving it with dessert. You can go ahead and break out the sweet wine with that.
Gordon’s picks for dry rose (Available locally)- Domaine de la Mordoree Cotes du Rhone rose 2005 (France) $11
- Tres Ojos rose Wine Calatayud 2004 (Spain) $7
- Beauvignac Syrah rose Vin de Pays d’Oc 2005 (France) 2005 $7
- Domaine de la Mordoree Tavel rose 2005 (France) $17
Prices are approximate and may vary.
Gordon Kendall's column runs monthly in Extra and online at Roanoke.com. He welcomes readers' questions and comments at gmoney@ntelos.net
