VINO-CLUES! 4/14/12 “A Dozen Things You Should Know About Rosés!”
1. PLEASE do not drink White ("pink") Zinfandel!!! While some find this wickedly sweet rosé yummy, it is really the anti-christ to other rosés. It is most definitely the "fruit bomb" out of a world of brilliant pink wines that have merit and distinction!
2. Rosés are made by crushing red grapes (the pulp and juice inside is white, even inside a red grape) and then removing the skins only after a small amount of red ink has seeped into the juice. Therefore, you can make rosé from ANY red grape.
3. Do not let the color fool you! Even dark red rosé may be totally dry (i.e., not fruity.)
4. But, do not ignore the color! There is a correlation between flavor adjectives and the color: a light salmon pink usually will taste more of raspberry/strawberry/lavender wisps, while dark red rosés do tend to have flavor profiles of cherry/cranberry/lingonberry/mulberry splashes.
5. Some of the most famous rosés come from the south of
a. From Bandol: rosés are typically made from Mourvedre grape, and they typically have a pulpy, meaty, rich, creamy texture that is super-savory with equally strong flavors of herbs, leaves, mulch, & tea along with the berry fruit.
b. From Tavel: rosés are dark, and start off super fruity, with big flavors of cherry, watermelon, & maraschino, but then completely changes and finishes tart & dry
c. From Provence: almost always light-pink salmon color, with a plummy, meaty, richer texture of nectar, and a classic raspberry & rose petal flavor (mostly from the Grenache grape.)
6. Rosés are one of the most food friendly wines in the world; because they have the flavor of red wine, but the acid pucker & chilled temperature of whites, and lighter tannins (because removing the skins removes the ink and the tannins), they can be matched with everything from salads with vinaigrette, to BBQ, salami, sausages, and steak tartare!
7. If you're a guy, don't be afraid to order a rosé in a restaurant; it is essentially a red wine after all!
8. If you DO prefer a fruitier or sweeter rosé, check the alcohol content. If under 11%, it will probably be relatively fruity to sweet because the winemaker stopped fermentation, which would leave grape juice sugar behind (residual sugar) instead of continuing to convert it into alcohol via yeast during the fermentation process.
9. Read the back label! Often a winery will tell you if the wine is unfiltered or not; if unfiltered, that means they leave the yeast in the juice, which will give the wine a smell, flavor, and texture of bread dough or donuts/cookies/biscuits (among the fruit, flower, & herb flavors.) If you prefer this profile, buy this wine!
10. Rosés are meant to drink young; when they are released each Spring into the marketplace, drink 'em! Or, hold them for 6 to 12 months if you want to allow a bit of aging (basically let oxygen deteriorate and diminish some of the fruit sugar over time) and enjoy the rosé the next year. Best bet, drink roses that are no more than 3 years old…they can lose too much fruit to oxygen, and taste flabby or dull at some point after 3 years.
11. Don't miss pairing your rosés with any version of goat cheese, or cheeses that have fruit in them or mashed into the rind!
12. If you want to taste a huge array of rosés from all different countries and from all different grapes, come to Vino-Versity's "PREPPY WINE TASTING" on Tuesday April 24th (6:30-8:30pm). $33 lets you taste & explore a selection of PINK and GREEN wines ("Green" wines are reds, whites or rosés that have been farmed using sustainable or organic farming practices!)
All 24 wines at the tasting will be 10% off for purchase, and if you wear pink or green to the tasting event, you can have 10% off ANY wine purchase that night (over 425 wines to choose from!)
Click on "Social Wine Events" (then "Tuesdays") and reserve your spot now!
VINO-CLUES! 1/2/12 “A (Chinese) New Year for Wine and Asian Cuisine!”
Did you know that January 23rd is Chinese New Year?? It has inspired this post…a look at what wines go well with ALL the popular Asian cuisines, from Chinese food to Sushi to Teriyaki Stir-Fry!
With the new year, we start at the beginning! Let's look at the fundamental concept of food & wine pairing again (see "Vino-Clue from 10/31/11" for the full explanation!): always match your wine to the most dominant flavor of the dish. A simple example of this would be Cod covered in a tomato-caper ratatouille. You might fall into the old trap that "red wine does not go with fish" but a savvy person would realize that the ratatouille is going to dominate your palate much more than the mild white fish, and therefore, THAT is what we pair the wine with. Next, we look for a wine of equal strength with either SIMILAR (i.e. high acid, "tart" wine like Sangiovese or Cabernet Franc to match with the high acid of the tomatoes) or OPPOSITE (i.e. a sweeter wine like Spatlese Riesling or fruity red Zinfandel to compliment the salty briny capers) characteristics.
So when we look at Asian cuisines, we may be inclined to identify the following dominant flavors, depending on your dish:
- Chinese Cuisine/Dim Sum: soy sauce, salt, garlic, hot peppers, sweet fruit glaze, fish broth, mushroom, fried batter
- Sushi: salty seaweed, starchy rice, spicy wasabi, mild fish, avocado
- Stir-fry/Japanese: salt, sweet, fried batter (when Tempura)
And this would lead us right to some phenomenal wine choices…some following the SIMILAR, and some following the OPPOSITE pairing principles:
- Chinese Cuisine:
- Sweet, dry, or off-dry Riesling: high acid & sometimes high sugar
- Gewurztraminer: high sugar, acid, & "ginger-mango" spice
- Chenin Blanc: puckery acid, great "green" kiwi-starfruit sugar
- Gamay (i.e. from the Beaujolais region): super light tannins (avoid high-tannin reds with this cuisine!)
- Pinot Noir: low tannins, can have nice ripe red fruits
- Fruity Rosé
- Brut Champagne or sparkling wine: great acid!
- Sushi:
- Brut Champagne or sparkling wine: great acid!
- Muscadet (i.e. Melon grape), Picpoul, Txakoli: all whites with salty sea-mist "salinity"
- Torrontes, Viognier, or New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc: great tropical fruit quality and high aromatics, with excellent puckery acidity
- Chenin Blanc: puckery acid, great "green" kiwi-starfruit sugar, and rich melon fruitiness especially when from the Vouvray region of France
- Stir-fry/Japanese:
- Dry Riesling or very dry Sauvignon Blanc, such as from the Sancerre region of France: great acidity
- Shiraz or California/Oregon Syrah and Zinfandel: high amount of fruit & spice
- Brut Sparkling wine or Champagne: super puckery acidity
- Stainless steel fermented Chardonnay, especially from the Chablis region of France: austere!
- Pinot Noir: low tannins, can have nice ripe red fruits
And there you go….Happy New Year, Happy Chinese New Year, and Happy Eating & Drinking! Now…the question is, has anyone ever tried Blowfish, and if so, what wine goes with it???? Blow-jolais???
