An Ode to Ros? | An Exploration of Portland Oregon Food and Drink

Bargemonne

I first sipped ros? in the South of France, so there was no choice but to fall immediately and deeply in love. I studied in Paris; during our late-summer break some friends and I vacationed in a small beach town near B?ziers, on the Mediterranean coast. Immediately after ditching our backpacks at the budget hotel, my friends and I plopped ourselves down at a table in a sweltering beachfront caf? and ordered a bottle of red wine. The waiter looked at us incredulously, and gave us the stereotypical snobby waiter routine.

?Mademoiselles,? he said with a sniff. ?We do not serve red wine in this heat.?

It took us a while to be convinced that real live French people would actually touch pink wine. The alternative the waiter would offer was skunky French beer mixed with orange juice (which I?m still convinced was just a game they play on tourists), so ros? it was. When I put the glass to my lips?magic. It was an explosion of pie cherries, tangerines, fresh herbs and a sprinkling of mineral that swept over me like a cool Mediterranean breeze. OK ? I didn?t use descriptors like that in my college days, but it was delicious and refreshing all the same and not at all what I had expected from a pink wine.

It wasn?t long ago that I would beg my customers to just taste a ros?. Most had never tasted a pink wine that wasn?t sticky sweet; importers brought in very few traditional European dry ros?s. What did come was often shipped without the benefit of temperature-controlled shipping containers, arrived in the fall and languished in the distributor?s warehouse until someone thought to take it out the following spring. So many of the wines would be off-condition or simply tired.

Thankfully, through the combined passion of so many stewards and sommeliers in Portland, a lot of our customers have been similarly swept away. I?d venture to say that ros? is even popular. We have more choices than ever before, with ros? styles being developed in nearly all wine regions to meet that demand. And thankfully, refrigerated containers have become the norm for our importers partners. Seasonally appropriate ordering now gets the new vintages here faster than you can say ?nouveau.? All that selection can get a bit confusing to navigate due to the diversity of styles and the vague and lacking description offered on the label.

One way to determine whether a ros? might be sweet or dry is to use the grape varietal and growing region as your guide. Grapes picked at higher ripeness tend to have some sugar remaining once the desired alcohol level is achieved. In contrast, wines from cooler regions and lighter-bodied grapes usually have higher acidity, which will balance out some sweetness. Wines made from Syrah, Malbec or Zinfandel may finish with some sweetness, where as Sangiovese or Pinot Noir will most likely be dry. Hot climates will produce an intensely fruity, slightly sweet ros? unless the winemaker uses steps to counterbalance it. You?ll find this style dominant in regions like Jumilla, Spain, and the Columbia Valley.

The textbook dry French ros?s come from Provence, where the wines are pale salmon in color. These wines are crisp, with tangy acidity and leaner flavors that show best when paired with food. A perennial favorite of this genre is the Commanderie de la Bargemone Coteaux d?Aix en Provence Ros?. It has an understated pale salmon color. The nose gives a generous amount of red fruit combined with fennel. It?s a leaner style, so the acidity strikes you with the first sip, but soon tangerine, red cherry and fresh herb spread across the palate. It?s made from estate-grown, sustainably farmed Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault. The 2010 vintage just hit town, but don?t hesitate to pick up the 2009. Because it?s intended to be lean, the flavor profile doesn?t change much over a year in the bottle, as long as it was stored properly (away from heat, out of the light). The Knights Templar once owned this property, then a count, and finally the Rozan family bought it in 1968. Since then they have invested heavily in the vineyards, with these old vines producing wonderfully textured, minerally wines. I love this style of wine with dishes that are a little salty or have lots of fresh herbs:? seafood, of course, but also dry-rubbed smoked chicken, prosciutto-wrapped melon or grilled vegetables topped with tapenade. Commanderie de la Bargemone is distributed by Bacchus and sells for about $16.

To sip on its own, sometimes it?s fun to serve deeper-colored more fruit-focused styles with Jolly Rancher aromas and a juicy, but dry, finish. This style comes from warm-climate areas like Central Spain, the Southern Rh?ne Valley and Sicily. More recently Argentine winemakers have begun making raspberry-colored, heavily fragranced Malbec ros? that will cause your mouth to water with the first whiff. The Susana Balbo ?Crios? Malbec Ros? is a knockout. This wine smells like watermelon and wild strawberries, but don?t be alarmed by the intensely fruity nose. ?While the flavors are jam-packed with juicy, tangy fruit, the finish is dry and refreshing and lasts just long enough to persuade you to take another sip. Quite a few Malbec Ros?s have cropped up in the past few years, but some lean toward an almost sweet style and others just lack depth. I love this juicy style with dry-rubbed smoked baby back ribs ? the bold flavors stand up well to meat and fruitiness balances out the kick of spice. Paired with BBQ or grilled meat and with a good chill it?s far more refreshing than a red when the mercury rises. I?ve also found the combination of acidity and fruitiness as a great foil for spicy Thai noodles or Indian curries. Think of this as a year-round ros? for those kinds of dishes. Crios is distributed by Youngs/Columbia and sells for about $11.

Local wineries have struggled with creating a ros? style that suits the Northwest, but there are a handful each year that I love. Barnard Griffin?s Ros? of Sangiovese really stands out this year.? This local pink has a mouthful of watermelon and cherry fruit with some spice and pastry notes that are perfectly balanced by Sangiovese?s natural acidity. There seems to be a lightness to this wine, despite its concentration of flavor. Rob Griffin started making this wine when one of his growers begged him to buy some Sangiovese. Rob isn?t a fan of Washington Sangiovese, but thought it would make a nice ros? and gave it a shot. He has tinkered with picking times and crop levels over the years. Rob grows this wine to be ros?, unlike many other Northwest wineries that siphon off juice from their red wine production. He picks the grapes at a lower Brix, or ripeness level. That earlier picking assures that the grapes have plenty of crisp acidity to make a refreshing wine. The grapes also have less fermentable sugar, which results in a lower final alcohol level and more balanced wine. Over the years, Rob has edged up the tons per acre without affecting the quality, which has allowed him to keep the retail under $11. It?s distributed by Odom.

Now that you know what ros? to drink, would someone please ask the sun to come out? Oh nevermind. I?ll drink it anyway.

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About Toni Ketrenos

Toni Ketrenos is the beer and wine buyer for New Seasons Market, a locally owned chain of ten grocery stores based in Portland, Oregon. Ketrenos? love for wine began while studying abroad in Paris. When she returned, she worked part-time in an Oregon winery?s tasting room while completing her journalism degree from Linfield College. She was the first to write original news content for the internet in Oregon but when the dot-com she worked for failed, Ketrenos turned back to wine. After working crush at a Willamette Valley winery during the 1996 harvest, she turned in her reporter?s notebook for a corkscrew and entered the wine industry full time. She joined New Seasons Market as buyer in August 2001. Ketrenos has earned her advanced certificate with distinction from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), as well as the Certified Specialist of Wine certification from the Society of Wine Educators. She also enjoys judging for regional wine competitions including the Oregon State Fair, the Indie Festival and the NW Wine Summit. In pursuit of a deeper understanding of terroir, Ketrenos has traveled to many of her favorite regions, including Stellenbosch, Piedmont and the Languedoc, to see the soils and vines that yield her favorite wines. When she?s not working, Ketrenos loves to garden, cook, knit and play games with her son. Her newest favorite spot for sipping wine is the deck of her Ranger 33? (the Rh?ne Ranger), which she is currently learning to sail.

Toni Ketrenos has written 2 articles on this site.

Source: http://www.portlandfoodanddrink.com/2011/06/rose/

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