LIVE24SEVEN // Wining & Dining
WINE E X P E R T - PAT R I C IA T E R R Y pale pink hue
Welcome to
February...it's that time of the year again...I refuse to say it...you know....when all things heart shaped and love related have a pale pink hue and Cupid has to dust off his arrow and practice his aim...
and Cupid
Along the paths we travel, I have had many conversations with people revolving around wine and often (increasingly so) they will throw in the comment, “I like rosé”, to which I always like to reply along the lines of, “There's nothing wrong with liking rosé, the best of them are absolutely wonderful”, but it usually brings a smile to my lips, because when said person admits to this liking, it is almost always said with a defensive slant, as if they are admitting to some dark, dastardly deed!
Joking apart though, someone did ask me the other day why whenever they tried the increasingly popular tasting menus at premium restaurants wanting to showcase their food and wines, it is rare, if ever, that a rosé features among the chosen wines. It was my friend Annabelle who made the point and it was a good one. What is it about rosé wines that divides people so much, in that some love them and others are not just neutral, but actually antagonistic towards this food-friendly style of wine.
However, it is true to say that there are many that reject all things pink (the colour of love apparently) and this usually extends to rosé wine.
There is an frequently quoted explanation amongst those who dismiss rosé, to be found in a book by Julian Street called 'Table Topics': 'He sniffed, tasted, considered; then, with a slow nod of agreement about the rosé in question said, “Nothing there – like kissing your Aunt”’. This comment pretty much sums up the feelings of those who avoid rosé wine – there is nothing there. Obviously I have a slightly biased view and can only reply that that yes there are many, too many, insipid, vacuous and tasteless rosés out there and as a category it has in the past been weak, but this has changed hugely in the past five years or so and there are some outstanding examples knocking on the door and deserving of recognition.
Where are these wines? Well I'm currently working my way around Spain and Italy (tasting wise) and there are some truly lovely bottles, such as Rosado, made from the Grenache grape. Grenache is an intensely fruity grape variety and good rosé, made with having just a very short time in contact with the grape skin, benefits from this method of winemaking, making the most of the fruit, but excluding any bitter tannins from extended skin contact. Drinking Spanish rosé also means that, in some small way, we can do our bit to help a fellow EU country out at a time when their economy, sadly, is as bad if not worse than dear old Blightly...
However, if I'm honest, I have been most pleasantly surprised by examples from Italy. These are not just known as generic Rosato, but depending on the area, are given names such as Cerasuolo (Sicily and Abruzzo) and Chiaretto (Lake Garda).
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