By Rebeccah Marsters
As a lover of rosé wine, I must admit that there is a small part of me that relishes its poor reputation. Like discovering a hot new band before they become popular, there’s satisfaction in appreciating the underdog (let alone the fact that it helps prices stay low). In recent years, however, there has been a growing number of people scooping up these quintessential summer quaffs. From rusty salmon to limpid petal, appreciating these pink-hued wines comes not only from sipping and enjoying, although this is an important and fun part, but also from a firm understanding of how they’re made, where they came from, and where they’ve been for the past few decades that left them on such uneasy footing.
If rosé is indeed maligned in the wine world, then White Zinfandel was its prime persecutor. For those wine lovers who have still not come over to the pink side, repeat after me: White Zinfandel is NOT rosé!
True rosé wines have various manifestations: from pale and watery, to those approaching the intensity of a light red, and from quite sweet to bone dry. Despite what kindergarten art class taught us about mixing colors, a pink wine is not made by simply mixing a red and a white. Although the production of rosé wines does borrow techniques from both white wine and red wine vinification (winemaking). There is one exception to my statement about mixing and that takes place in the Champagne region. It is here that it is common for the base wine for rosé champagne to be made by blending the house’s white wine with red.
In regions that focus on rosé production, the process begins as it does for red wine: by crushing black grapes and letting the juice sit in contact with the skins. The pigment from the skins begins to leech out and the color of the resulting mixture, called the must, depends on how long this scenario is allowed to play out. For red wines, skin contact continues throughout fermentation, lending deep hues and higher tannin levels. For rosés, the liquid is removed from the solids after only a few days and then fermentation follows.
Once the intensity of the color has been established, rosé wine is treated more like a white than a red. As with white wines, it is fermented at a lower temperature in neutral wood or stainless steel to preserve the freshness and delicate fruit flavors. The finished product can be as lean and youthful as a white, but slightly weightier, often exhibiting the berry and red fruit notes typical of a red, with just a hint of tannic grip. These wines are seldom meant for ageing, making them the perfect match for the fleeting heat of the summer months, and equally ideal for food pairing, as they have the ability to complement a wide range of dishes and beautifully bridge the gap between heavier and lighter fare.
Due to their crisp and refreshing nature, it is not surprising that these wines are rooted in parts of the world where the scorching sun can make sipping a tannic red about as appealing as sitting down to a bowl of hot stew. The resourceful folks in these locales figured out how to turn their revered and ubiquitous black grapes into a style of wine that would sustain them through even the most brutal summer days. In Provence (France), the varietals of Grenache and Cinsaut, among other grapes, are turned into predominantly dry rosés that can be fresh and fruity, but also offer the characteristic herbal aromas of the sunbaked south of France. In Tavel and Lirac in the Southern Rhône (France) the production of rosé is a revered art, while wines from Anjou in the Loire Valley utilize Cabernet Franc, Grolleau, and Gamay, and run the gamut of quality levels. In Spain, the classic Rioja grapes can find wonderful expression in rosés that display everything from fresh juicy strawberry to earthy spice, and while Italy is not as well known for its pink wines, certain regions do make what is known as chiaretto.
And that brings us to the United States. The vinification processes discussed thus far are undertaken with the solitary goal of producing rosé wine. Although there are wineries that practice the European methods of creating rosé, most look to another method. Saignée, or the bleeding method, involves lightly crushing the black grapes, then vatting them for twelve to twenty-four hours. At this point, a portion of the juice is run off and fermented, becoming a style of rosé.
In 1972, when Robert Trinchero of California’s Sutter Home found himself with an abundance of Zinfandel grapes in the face of a burgeoning demand for white wines. He decided to utilize the saignée method to come up with a solution. The result was a pink wine that was sweet, easy drinking, and presented as having a clearly stated its kinship to white wines. The wine was called White Zinfandel. These factors along with the affordability of the wine led to the significant expansion of the “blush” wine market in a very short time.
However times do change and the appeal of White Zinfandel has in many ways receded. This is largely due to the development of the American palate and its evolution towards a drier style of wine. The pink hue began to signify an undesirable level of sweetness, and thus rosés of all styles gained an undeserved stigma due solely to a shared shade.
The good news is that high quality rosés are now widely available, and more are being debuted each season. As producers catch on to the developing palates of consumers, they are willing to devote a larger portion of their capital to improving these wines, since the guaranteed market protects their investment.
Overall, Americans are starting to shift away from cloying and sugary in favor of crisp, high-acid, fruit-filled options. Whatever the reason for this sea change, it bodes well for wine drinkers and winemakers alike. While pink wine can sadly no longer be the exclusive mistress to the fortunate few, it’s about time she came out of the shadows and resurrected her reputation as an upstanding libation.
When the weather grows mild once again and the shelves of your local wine store begin to look rosier, take advantage of the affordability and availability of these wines while you can. Although the bargains may not last, rosé wines are here to stay.
After receiving her degree in Art History from the University of Vermont, Rebeccah Marsters decided to go to culinary school where she completed an associate’s degree in Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales in North Carolina. After, she began an internship at America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) in Brookline, MA and was later hired full-time at ATK and now work as Assistant Test Cook for Cook’s Country magazine where she develops and test recipes and produces the food for the magazine’s photo shoots.
The fascinating fact that emerges out of Port’s history is how it came into being. Unlike still wine, which is simply a wine made of grapes and transformed into alcohol through fermentation, Port has an extra step added to the mix. During fermentation brandy is added to the wine. The effect of the brandy is to effectively kill off the remaining volatile yeast, which leaves behind 5-10% residual sugar. This accounts for the characteristic sweetness of Port. The other effect of the brandy is to increase the alcohol, which typically is around 20% in Port. This was first done way back in the 1700s in an attempt to prevent wine from spoiling during its long journey from Porto to England or the Netherlands. 
Tyler Thomas is the winemaker at 
Today, brandy is produced all over the world, and is basically any spirit that is distilled from wine made of grapes (although there are fruit and pomace brandies as well). While distillation dates back to ancient Egypt, and early manifestations of brandy were used medicinally in the Greek and Roman empires, we’ll jump ahead to the 16th century, when Dutch merchants were shipping wine from France and Spain to England and Northern Europe. Unfortunately, the thin, high acid white wines didn’t fare well on the journey, so the Dutch began to concentrate, or distill, the wine as a method of preservation. A bonus was that the concentrated stuff took up far less cargo space, so with the intention of diluting it back down upon arrival, this ‘cooked’ wine called brandewijn (‘burnt wine’), made its way across the ocean. As it turned out, brandewijn was pretty good as it was; the distillation process changed the flavors of the previously unexceptional wine, and storing it in wooden barrels during the journey further enhanced it- not to mention the relative alacrity with which it took effect on the drinker.
After receiving her degree in Art History from the University of Vermont, Rebeccah Marsters decided to go to culinary school where she completed an associate’s degree in Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales in North Carolina. After, she began an internship at America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) in Brookline, MA and was later hired full-time at ATK and now work as Assistant Test Cook for Cook’s Country magazine where I develop and test recipes and produce the food for the magazine’s photo shoots.
By palatable I mean that in both cool and warm sites, with both savory (read less ripe) and unctuous fruit (read riper) Syrah can appeal. It is able to maintain integral characteristics of the variety in both scenarios. While Pinot noir is often upheld as the ultimate variety for expression of a particular place (and for good reason), I think a case can be made for Syrah as well.
Tyler Thomas is the winemaker at 
There’s a rich gastronomic and viticultural history in Piedmont stemming in part from the fact that it’s the former subalpine area of the kingdom of Savoy and has close ties with France, both historically and culturally. There’s even a mildly confusing Franco-Italian dialect, Piemontese, which on occasion can turn the esteemed Barolo site of ‘Bricco Fiasco’ (Italian) into ‘Bric dël Fiasc’ (Piemontese). However, there’s no confusing the elegance, power, and unique sense of terroir in the wine. The dynamic topography of the region provides a vast number of microclimates and unique vineyard compositions at varying altitudes, which give the specific finished wine a true sense of place. For instance, Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara, Carema, Lessona, Bramaterra, and Roero are all representative of specific places that produce inherently different wines, based either entirely, or in part, on the same grape: Nebbiolo. 
Todd Lipman has been involved in most facets of the hospitality industry over a span of nearly fifteen years including time at Boston-area restaurants Bricco, KO Prime, and Bin 26 Enoteca. He’s a Certified Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers and hopes to achieve Advanced certification in the very near future. 
For a good match, focus on the cheese’s flavor and texture profile and see what wines can stand up to it. Pairing a robust cheese with a delicate wine can kill the wine, while pairing a delicate cheese with a bold red can kill off the cheese’s flavor.
