About Rosé (the wine, not the flower.)

Memorial Day weekend:  The gateway to summer. Beer, barbecues, frisbee and . . . Rosé ?  Why not?

I’ve been learning a little bit about Rosé . Am I more sophisticated?  I don’t know. Might it have something to do with owning a wine-related business? Maybe. Could it be that having daughters has brought more pink and flowers into my life? Probably.

As a kid, I probably would have been ostracized for associating with pink. But things are different now, and I would say that Rosé  is a great way to don the pink. Hey, it’s better than the sparkly tutu I was wearing on my head during story time last night.

Rosé  has gained a lot of popularity over the last couple years—and that trend doesn’t seem to be waning. It is a great transition wine—for the seasons and evolving palates. It’s not the overly sweet pink of white zinfandels past. It’s typically a sophisticated, light but dry wine that blends the more robust fruit of red varietals with a crispness that gives it versatility to hold up to a winter pork dish or match a mid-(or early) summer’s evening meal.  It seems most folks prefer the latter.

I wondered why Rosé is less expensive and I found out that it has a lot to do with process. Rosé  is often made via saignee—in which a vintner will extract juice from a fuller bodied red, in order to reduce the tannins in the final product. The extraction is then fermented cold, and the result is Rosé . There are also other ways to make Rosé , but this is the most common and I thought the most interesting (maybe because it is akin to using the whole cow).

A few other things to know about Rosé :

• It is best served chilled and young (get out your wine thermals, folks).
• European Rosé  tends to be drier, while US Rosé  tends to be a little sweeter.
• The hue of pink depends on the varietals used.
• It’s all in how you pronounce the “e.”

My kids have taught me a lot of things. Pink isn’t so bad. Rosé is better, especially when you are waiting for the roses to bloom, so you can stop and smell them.

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