Spare the blushes
Having always been the poor relation of red and white wine, Rosè is suddenly in huge demand and appearing in very respectable circles indeed. But can it ever really be taken seriously? Joanne Simon explains why she, for one, has started drinking pink. I came out of the Rosè closet about a year ago, in a regular column about South African wine that I write for UK retailers. I knew they wouldn’t hold it against me, given that they’d seen annual sales of the pink stuff rocket by almost 30% in an otherwise faltering market.
Today almost one in 12 bottles bought in the UK is Rosè, compared to just one in a hundred a decade ago, and it’s not just a British quirk. Rosè sales in France have risen by more than 10 million bottles over the past five years, with recent reports suggesting that pink will soon replace white as the number two wine colour.
In the US, meanwhile, sales of imported Rosès have soared between 20 and 40% a year since 2004 – and both Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast have had expansive cover packages on Rosè in recent months.
Having always regarded it as hopelessly unfashionable and mostly sweet and nasty, I only started drinking pink after pregnancy and breastfeeding wreaked havoc on my tannin tolerance.
After several months of abstinence, I craved the flavours of red wine and soon discovered that these slipped down a little more easily in white wine form. Happily I also soon discovered that an increasing number of local producers are quite serious about making Rosè, as opposed to merely seeing it as a by-product of red wine production.
Which is not to say that there isn’t still a lot of mediocre wine around, especially as making Rosè is one way to reduce a red wine lake – and ours is pretty big at the moment. It’s also a good way for cash-strapped producers to ensure quicker returns (no lengthy maceration periods; no ageing in expensive oak barrels). Tellingly, the number of Rosès on the domestic market has increased from 25 to some 193 labels over the past decade (with 106 tasted by the WINE magazine panel this month, see page 92).
Generally speaking there are three ways to make Rosè. The first is by blending red and white wine, a method usually used for cheaper wines although there are some top-quality examples where the technique is used to add complexity (Mark Solms adds unwooded Viognier to his barrel-fermented Mourvèdre and Grenache to combine apricot freshness with red fruit and enticing spice in his innovative Solms Lekkerwijn, while Mike Dobrovic “fine tunes” his Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rosè with a dollop of red wine if the colour’s too pale).
Then there’s the old French winemaking technique called saignèe, whereby juice is “bled” off a harvest of crushed red grapes in order to increase the ratio of skin to juice, the idea being that the resulting red wine will be deeper and richer – with Rosè as its by-product. If the grapes are good there’s every reason to expect the Rosè to be good too, but because the fruit has been harvested at optimal ripeness for red wine, there is a tendency for the Rosè to be too alcoholic – without enough structure to pull it off (though Dobrovic points out that barrel-matured Rosè, a pretty rare beast, loses some of its alcohol through evaporation).
Most serious Rosè producers prefer the third method, whereby they purpose-grow grapes in specially selected vineyards, harvest them early to ensure higher acid and lower alcohol levels (Waterford’s crisp, dry Pecan Stream Rose-Mary 2006 had an astoundingly low 10% alcohol by volume), then leave the clear juice in contact with the skins after crushing to acquire the desired degree of pinkness (from Waterkloof’s exceptionally pale Circumstance Cape Coral Mourvèdre to the brilliant cherry of Jordan’s Chameleon).
It’s an intricate production process, requiring wine-makers to get up at all hours to check progress and control any astringency associated with skin contact. In fact, a high-quality Rosè is arguably much harder to achieve than a high-quality white or red – requiring some of the refreshing crispness of the former as well as some of the depth and structure of the latter. And that’s before there’s any thought of blending, whether it’s different tanks of the same varietal or a number of different varietals (such as the Shiraz, Mourvëdre, Cabernet Sauvignon, Barbera and Malbec of that Pecan Stream Rose-Mary; or Mourvëdre, Sangiovese, Petit Verdot and Zinfandel for Backsberg’s Bella Rosa at 12.5% alcohol by volume).
When producers get it right, regardless of grape or blend, and succeed in making a dry or marginally off-dry wine with ripe berry flavours, tongue-tingling acidity, low alcohol and an evanescent hint of tannins, the result is an amazingly versatile partner for food – and in particular the garlicky, herby Mediterranean fare of Rosès spiritual homes: think bouillabaisse with Tavel in Provence or tapas and Rosado in Spain… Perfect for alfresco dining when it’s too hot to drink red, the only question is why so few top South African producers give serious attention to a style of wine that is ideally suited to our outdoors lifestyle?
Jordan winemaker Kathy Jordan says she and husband Gary only saw the light when they did a round-trip through France in August 2006. “It was hot,” she recalls. “So we drank Rosè. And we realised how well it goes with Mediterranean styles of food because it’s got a bit more backbone than white wine and slightly softer acidity.”
They came home determined to change the image of Rosè as “leftovers” and were very happy with what they achieved with their Chameleon Rosè in 2007.
“It’s dry and fruity – you don’t often get both – and you would drink it for all the same reasons as a Sauvignon Blanc, except it’s mellower with a broader mouthfeel and softer finish.”
Many were surprised when “serious wine” producer Mike Dobrovic of Mulderbosch Vineyards launched his Cabernet Sauvignon Rosè locally in 2006 – but he’s dabbled in Rosè since 1994 (initially a saignèe drawn off some Malbec, which he couldn’t bear to sell off for distillation so it stayed on its lees in barrel “acquiring lovely biscuity, vanilla flavours” until 1997 when it was bought by Graham Knox, now winemaker at Stormhoek – and making his own Couture Rosè blend of Pinotage, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon in a style intended to be consumed with ice).
“Rosè is sexy,” winks Dobrovic. “It needs a certain amount of skin contact and if you’re lucky you’ll get some more skin contact after drinking it!”
On a more serious note, he reveals that Mulderbosch’s Swiss agents specifically requested a Cabernet Sauvignon Rosè in 1998. “I experimented with other varieties but they weren’t interested,” he says. However he now actually believes that Cab results in a more interesting wine than many of the easy-drinking quaffers around. “With Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc as its parents, it has those grassy pyrazines that we perceive as strawberry flavours in the wine’s youth, probably because of the colour. But the word ‘Sauvignon’ comes from ‘sauvage’, and savages need a bit of time to pick up some culture!
After four or five years, Cab Rosè acquires a lovely softness and its pungent herbaceousness tones down into asparagus notes.
“Rosè can age beautifully and its complexity can be mind-blowing,” insists Dobrovic, revealing that he has plans to ferment and mature some Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz in barrel in order to release about 10 cases of whichever turns out best under a special label.
“There are already some exceptional, dead serious Rosès on the market in South Africa, but the perception is that Rosè isn’t a serious wine so you can’t charge a lot for it. This means that there are some really great wines out there at a really great price. In Europe some Rosès cost €25-30 a bottle (R250 – R300). At R30 a bottle, our wine is better.”
No wonder sales of Rosè are rocketing. La Petite Ferme owner/winemaker Mark Dendy Young reveals that the new Merlot-Shiraz Rosè in his Maison range “outsold every other wine by seven bottles to one” at Franschhoek’s Bastille Day Festival last year. “The estates can’t supply enough Rosè,” agrees Clayton Howard, general manager at The Cellars-Hohenort in Constantia, who says sommelier Miguel Chan will persuade guests to try a glass of Buitenverwachting Blanc de Noir, for example, and they will invariably end up drinking the whole bottle.
“People are realising that Rosè can be a great aperitif, a good compromise for red wine drinkers when it’s just too hot for red wines and, most of all, a great drink with food,” comments Cathy Marston, owner of The Nose Restaurant & Wine Bar.
She’s preaching to the converted (over a glass of Kloovenburg White from Red Shiraz 2007 and a shared mezze platter), but I ask whether she believes Rosè will ever be regarded as a “serious” wine. “If by serious you mean something to lay down for 20 years and bequeath to your children then no, it never will be.
But if you want something that will stand up to surprisingly robust food, please all palates and – more than almost any other drink – make you think of summer days with good friends and family, then you can’t beat a good Rosè.”
