Drink Pink!

Drink Pink!Ahhh, Spring. What does spring mean to you? Flowers, biking, baby animals? Correct answer? Rosé, of course!

That fresh, delicious pink wine screams “Drink me!” as the weather turns warmer. (Or we pretend it’s turning warmer and hope we don’t wake up to snow.)

I’m not talking about your momma’s pink wine. The ubiquitous pink wine of the 70s and 80s was a totally different beast. Marketed to Americans as blush or white zinfandel, this sweet, cloying concoction exploded in the era of Michael Jackson and Madonna. Wine producer Sutter Home made 60 times more white zin in 1986 than 1980; however, the production and consumption of this version of pink has fallen drastically since the 90s.

Today’s rosé is usually made with more finesse. By leaving the pressed juice from red or black skinned grapes with the crushed skins for a few days, the wine takes on some color. The actual grape involved varies widely, including pinot noir, tempranillo, cabernet, malbec and zinfandel. The skins are then removed before the wine ferments, unlike with red wines.

The color varies greatly, from almost red to a soft orangey-pink, depending on the grapes’ variety and the winemaker. This wine can be used in sparkling and still styles.

The resulting wine is refreshing and delightful. Additionally, it is meant to be consumed while it’s young and is usually reasonably priced. Just what we all need at the end of off-season. I prefer wines that are made in the old world style, although you can find heavier rosés such as Crios rosé made from malbec.

Look for wines that call themselves rosé, or rosado from Spain, or rosato or cerasulo in Italy. If you’re worried about the wine being too sweet, be sure to avoid anything called blush or “white” anything: zin, merlot, cab. By checking the alcohol percentage, you can almost always guess the sweetness of the wine. Anything below 10 percent is probably going to seem sweet to your palette.

A few favorites that can be found locally:

Domaine de Nizas from Languedoc, France
Le Cengle from Cotes de Provence, France

And Sparkling:
Jeio Cuvee Brut Rosé
Lucien Albrecht Brut Rosé

Lets welcome spring with a glass of the ultimate transition wine.  Drink Pink!

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Rona Ferguson

Rona Ferguson escaped to Jackson from Southern California in 1994. She has served in some of the Valley’s best restaurants including the OYG, Osteria, Sidewinders, and now Bin22. Downtime includes her four legged children, gourmet meals prepared by her chef/baker/nursing student husband, and delicious wines from traveling to west coast wine countries. Add a river and mountain bike, and she has found a recipe for the perfect meritage.

Terra