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Don’t be so judgmental about pink wines |
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By Derek Lavallee
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Posted: 08/02/07 06:43 PM [ET] |
Discrimination based on skin color currently influences a wide range of legislative and judicial policy debates, most notably national laws concerning immigration, education and terrorism. This column is about an infinitely less important manifestation of color bias — prejudice against pink wines.
You know what I’m talking about. You might even be part of the not-so-silent majority who believe pink wines are consumed only by dilettantes who have no taste, literally or figuratively. While there certainly are a lot of poor-quality pinks to be avoided, good rosés are the perfect libation for sipping your way through the summer heat.
Your disregard for pink wines is not entirely your fault. Like all forms of discrimination, ignorance and stereotyping cloud better judgment. In fact, the popularly held opinion results from both intended and unintended consequences of decades of marketing efforts by a few major California producers. In the early 1960s when Gallo of California introduced and heavily advertised their now-signature “Hearty Burgundy” — a masculine red table wine — they also launched a mostly dry “pink Chablis,” intended for consumers with more delicate palates. A decade later, a winemaking accident at another large California winery, Sutter Home, created what we now know as White Zinfandel. Intending to use some extra juice from their standard (red) Zinfandel line before it soaked up much color from contact with skins to produce a dry rosé, a hiccup during fermentation caused it to retain a lot of sugar. The winery decided to test-market the new, sweeter wine and the response was overwhelming. White Zinfandel introduced middle-class Americans to wine-drinking, and from the 1980s to early 1990s bottles of Sutter Home possibly claimed more space in American refrigerators than boxes of Arm & Hammer.
Accordingly, by color alone most people associate all pink (rosé) wines with White Zinfandel. Imagine chewing raspberry Hubba Bubba while drinking Kool-Aid and you’ll get a sense of what most White Zins taste like. But dry rosés, long embraced and enjoyed throughout southern Europe, offer as much diversity and complexity as any wine in the world.
Quality offerings, which can be found on the Hill with little effort and expense, often express the best features of the many varietals from which they are now made. And a better match with lighter summer fare you will not find. Be sure to chill the rosés to a temperature you typically prefer to enjoy your whites.
Paul Jaboulet Aine Cotes du Rhone Rose “Parallele 45” 2005 ($12)
Do not be intimidated by the long name — you pass this wine every day in your neighborhood store. It is produced by one of France’s oldest and most respected houses and named after the latitude where the vineyard lies, halfway between the equator and North Pole. It is an attractive salmon-pink in color and offers refreshing berry fruit on the nose and palate.
Chateau Mas Neuf Rose 2005 ($9.99)
Chateau Mas Neuf (translation: “new farmhouse”) is a vineyard in southern France that is gaining popularity here in the U.S. in large part because of this rosé. It is made from a blend of four grapes and enjoys several months aging in barrels that once housed the finest wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy. This unique technique results in a stunning cranberry-ruby color and an explosion of cinnamon and strawberries from glass to gullet.
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