It seems that rosé wines are synonymous with summer. When you have a hot day and you want to reach for some wine, a chilled rosé in your wine glass is very appealing. With more people drinking rosé wines, wineries are paying more attention to and placing more emphasis on rosé wines, which is improving the quality of rosé wines.
Rosé wines are typically made from the same grape varieties as red wines, using very similar processes/techniques. The only difference is the amount of time that the grape skins are in contact with the juice that is fermented into becoming wine. White wines are produced with grapes crushed and fermented without skins, while red wines are produced with grapes that are crushed and fermented with skins. Rosé wines are basically just red wines with reduced grape skin contact during the crushing/fermentation process. The grape skins give red and rosé wines their colour, as well as the tannins in red wines. Normally, the grape skin contact in rosé wines is only a few days, which will give the wine its light pink colour. The longer the contact, the darker the rosé will be in colour. That is why you may see different rosé wines have different shades of pink/rosé. This makes rosé wines perfect for wine drinkers that enjoy the fruit flavours of red wines but are bothered by the tannins which dry out your mouth.
Rosé wines can be either semi-sweet or dry in style. Typically, North American rosé wines are sweeter, whereas rosé wines from Old World countries like France are drier in style. Because of their diversity of colours, styles and taste profiles, rosé wines offer many wine pairing options. You could try a semi-sweet style of rosé with meat drizzled in barbecue sauce. Drier rosé style wines would good pair perfectly with grilled fish. Rosé wines should be served chilled, and they are meant to be enjoyed right away.
B.C. Liquor Stores have brought in quite a good and diverse selection of rosé wines. I have mentioned quite a few of them in previous articles. A great example of a sweet, affordable North American rosé in a sweeter style is the 19 Crimes 2020 Cali Rosé. 19 Crimes is an innovative brand that has collaborated with Snoop Dogg to produce this rosé. It is a blend of 60-per-cent Cinsault, 20-per-cent Syrah, 15-per-centGrenache and five-per-cent Rolle. It is a dark pink coloured wine with strawberry and black cherry flavours that is a perfect summer sipper. It sells in B.C. liquor stores for $19.99.
Compare and contract this rosé to the Miravel 2020 Rosé from the Provence region in France. This is another superstar collaboration between Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and the Perrin family, owners of many wineries in France including Chateau Beaucastel. Pitt and Jolie got divorced but continued owning this winery together, which is turning out a very delicate dry style of rosé. The blend of grapes is similar to Cali Rosé but you can tell by the colour that it had less skin contact with the grape skins. It’s priced in B.C. Liquor Stores at $29.99.
For my video review of these two wines, please see visit my YouTube channel.
Until next time, happy drinking!
Tony Kwan is the Richmond News' new columnist. Lawyer by day, food and wine lover by night, Kwan is an epicurean who writes about wine, food and enjoying all that life has to offer.
