I really like Rose wines from France. Ever since I bought the cookbook called Lulu's Provencal Table by Richard Olney I have liked Rose wines. Lulu and her husband run and own Domaine Tempier in Provence,France, and have for over 50 years. Just the spirit of the book made me want to try Rose wines...the succinct descriptions of family meals and the sense of community and family that is pervasive throughout the book alone is comforting.
...and for the record, Rose wines are not White Zinfandels. Nor are they sweet. They make great food companions with seafood dishes or grilled pork or chicken dishes.
Rose wines are made from red grape varieties. The rose that we are currently featuring,
Perrin Reserve Cotes du Rhone Rose 2006,
Here are the winemakers notes:
Traditional winemaking by saignée - the French term meaning "bled", for a wine-making technique which results in a rosé wine made by running off or "bleeding", a certain amount of free-run juice from just-crushed dark-skinned grapes after a short, prefermentation maceration.
Clearly a wine from a warm place, the color is an intense pink with bright reflections. The nose is fresh, of redcurrants and yellow raspberries. The mouth is supple with fruity roundness in the middle, and a lively finish that is quite long.
Pair with any summer foods or Mediterranean dishes. A perfect pairing would be grilled pork ribs with white peach and verbena julienne.Well, we don't have any white peaches or verbena yet, but this is still a great time of year to try an easy drinking wine.
