Since the heat wave is continuing I’m still drinking a lot of Rosé and white wines along with the occasional sparkler. So we’ll look into more Rosé wines. Since I was left with a lot of Modelo Especial from our July Fourth party, I have beer on my list as well. I’m also relaxing to the strains of New Age music and searching for movies set on a beach or on the sea. I’ll take anything to make me not think about steaming blacktops and withering heat. All this on Salon Saturday.
Summer calls for Rosé
There is something enticing about a pink wine in a gracefully tall bottle, glistening with drops of moisture slowly inching down its sides that cry out; relief is on the way! I have two more Rosé wines for your consideration as well as the background of where they originate. One is from Languedoc, an area we covered previously in detail and the Rhone Valley, so we are only covering French Rosé, but why not? They are typically in the style a majority of wine lovers prefer and France has had centuries to perfect this class of wine. Besides this is Tour de France month!
Many of the lighter pink and crisper Rosé wines, such as classic Provence are more in demand, and winemakers in other countries and regions have taken note. The popularity of Provence-style Rosé is constant, and influences Languedoc and Rhône Rosé wines as well.
Rosé Wine Basics
Rosé wines are made predominantly from red wine grapes, using one of three processes. Our focus in on the two predominant styles that these wines represent.
- Saignée (sohn-yay) or bleeding method: Free run juice, around 10%, bled off for Rosé and permits two wines to be made; Rosé and a richer more intense red wine.
- Free-run juice comes from un-pressed grapes, which are often blended back into the wine, except when making a Saignée Rosé
- Because the primary wine is red, grapes are harvested later than typical Rosé
- Maceration, similar to conventional red wine, but juice taken off skins after 3 – 24 hours
- The grapes are harvested earlier than for red wine to preserve acidity and red fruit flavors and brighter notes
Another term associated with Rosé wines is Vin Gris or Grey wine, which is not a regulated term, but typically uses lighter skin grapes like Pinot Noir, Grenache and Gamay. It might use the saignée process, but there is little or no maceration time. Conversely it can use the maceration process, using earlier harvested grapes, but with no skin contact. In each case the resulting wine is a very pale pink, but not normally gray.
Principal Rosé grapes
The main grapes for Rosé in the south of France, which includes Languedoc, Rhone Valley and Provence, are Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Mourvèdre, and Cinsault. I’m only going to focus on the grapes of our two wines.
Grenache: While typically smooth and delicate, Grenache provides structure to Languedoc blends. It also has an aromatic flavor profile and an exceptional ability to age. Grenache is often combined with more tannic grapes, such as Syrah and Mourvèdre, in the region’s red blends. It produces round, elegant wines with notes of cherry and plum in youth, and jam, cocoa, and mocha with age.
Grenache or Garnacha is a widely planted grape variety that ripens late, so it needs hot, dry conditions such as Spain and the Rhône Valley. The vine has a strong wood canopy and highly resistant to windy regions, such as the Rhône Mistral (25 to 60 mph).
Generally spicy, berry-flavored ( typically raspberry and strawberry) and soft on the palate producing wine with a relatively high alcohol content, but needs careful control of yields for best results. Grenache is typically 45% or higher in a Rosé blend.
Cinsault: Known for its supple, juicy, and fruity wines, Cinsault yields wines that tend to be light ruby in color with notes of sour red berries, like strawberries, currants, and cranberries. This grape is popular in the production of the regions excellent rosé wines. Cinsault delivers fresh, punchy reds that are just as floral as they are fruity.
Cinsault is a perfect grape for the Rhône Valley as it thrives in the hot, windy weather. The dark skinned grape ripens early and often delivers prolific yields, so growers need to control this. It’s used primarily as a blending grape in the Southern Rhône Valley where its natural, low level of tannin and acidity, coupled with strong aromatic quality pairs well with Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre.
Southern Rhone Valley
The southern Rhone Valley offers quite a diverse set of sub-regions and encompasses the Cotes du Rhone subregions in the south and the Cote du Rhone-Villages regions in the northern part. On either side are other AOC subregions like Costières de Nimes in the southwest and Luberon on the eastern side
There are many other subregions offering varied takes on the Rosé style and one of those has significance with the Tour de France: Ventoux as in Mont Ventoux.
Ventoux AOC (est 1973)
Ventoux AOC (known as Côtes du Ventoux AOC until 2008 is a wine-growing appellation (defined region with rules) in the southeastern region of the Rhône wine region of France, where the wines are produced in 51 communes of the Vaucluse département along the lower slopes of the Ventoux mountain and at the foot of the Vaucluse Mountains. The neighboring appellation of Luberon AOC stretches along its southern border and is separated from it by the Calavon River. Its northern end butts up to the Cru subregions of Gigondas and the Rhône village wines.
The three main areas of the region, the Malaucène basin, the foothills of the Mont Ventoux to the east of Carpentras and to the north of Cavaillon are less ravaged by the Mistral due to some shelter afforded by the mountain range. Archeological discoveries of wine making equipment have dated the production of wine since 30 AD.
In the past the climb of Mont Ventoux, the giant of Provence, has been the climatic stage 20 of the Tour de France. This year the more northerly route has eliminated that historic climb. Instead Stage 20 this year on Saturday, July 22 is Belfort to Le Markstein, 133km. It has the last two major climbs and the last chance for someone to bump Dane Jonas Vingegaard off the winner’s platform. Stage 17, Wednesday Jonas gained 5:30 minutes on his closest rival on the toughest stage with over 5,000 meters of vertical gain over 166 km. Jonas” rival, Pogacar said, “I’m gone. I’m dead.” Jonas won his second tour.
For your consideration: Dom de la Piegonne Ventoux 2021 Rosé, 13% ABV, $12.99
This Rosé is composed of 60% Grenache and 40% Cinsault and features a rich reddish pink color. It has a delicate nose with aromas of strawberry and currant. It is crisp on the palate with white peach and raspberry flavors, tinged with salty minerality and a finish of honey and hawthorn. While not as crisp as some Rosé wines, the mouthfeel is rich, dense and complex.
Languedoc-Roussillon
This subregion in southern France has been making more and more quality wines and Rosé is no exception. Located to the west of the Rhone Valley, it extends along the Mediterranean Sea to the Spanish border. It contains both coastal, valley and mountainous areas.
- Uses all the Rhone grapes including Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah and Carignan.
- Largest wine region in the world, 700,000 acres, 1/3 of French production
- The highest production of Rosé wines; even more than Provence
With the Mediterranean coast on the east and the Pyrenees to the south, the region’s varying terroir make a broad spectrum of rosés. Diversity in soil types, ocean breezes and Southern France sun provide the environment for unique vintages and colors from unripe peach to deep coral.
Sable de Camargue Rosé Wines
This has been a go to Rosé wine for me since I first tasted it. I first encountered wines from this region while vacationing in St Martin on the French side. We had just arrived at our resort, La Plantation, off Orient Bay and hiked to the beach where we found a little grocery store that had a reasonable wine selection.
I grabbed a couple of Rosé wines that listed Sable de Camargue as its origin. At the time I had no idea where that was, but it was French Rosé so how bad could it be? What it could be in this duty-free area was a wonderfully refreshing, crisp and tasty wine that was embarrassingly cheap. OK, I wasn’t embarrassed. After I tasted the first one I made it a point to include a couple every time we bought wines, which was a lot. Did I mention this was the French side of a duty-free island?
Sable de Camargue is the Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP) title for wines made along the Mediterranean coast of eastern Languedoc in the south of France. It is best known for its Vins Gris (effectively skin-contact rosés), made predominantly from Grenache, Cinsault and Carignan. These and the more traditional rosés account for over 90 percent of production. Wine searcher website
Terroir: Sable de Camargue (“Sand of Camargue”) covers just a small part of the Languedoc region. The vines are planted on sand dunes, either right next to the sea or further inland, divided by a number of lagoons and salt marshes.
The climate is definitively Mediterranean, with long hot summers and low annual rainfall and a marked marine influence. Sea breezes bring freshness to the vines during the growing season, ensuring the development of acidity alongside phenolic ripeness.
Vineyard management: The high permeability of the soils and the vineyards’ close proximity to the ocean means that vines must be carefully tended by growers. This is done particularly in regards to erosion, irrigation and salinity.
Sand is 90% of soil content, almost free of clay and silt. To protect the soil from wind erosion, the vine growers establish other vegetation – generally a cover crop grown between rows of vines – through late autumn to early spring.
From April to November, the foliage of the vine naturally protects the soil from the wind. At the end of the harvest therefore, viticulturists begin cover-crop planting to ensures the plant cover benefits from the October rains and is well established when the vine loses its leaves in November.
To aid drainage there are hundreds of kilometers of man-made canals running through this part of the Camargue. Nevertheless, in parts of the area covered by the IGP, vines spend a small portion of the year awash in the tide. It is this feature, along with the sandy soils, that meant that Camargue vineyards were largely unaffected by the phylloxera louse that devastated the French wine industry in the 1880s.
Recommendation: Dune Gris De Gris 12.5% ABV, $10.99 (was $11.99)
This is one of my favorite Rosé wines. The color is a pale pink, not grey, but the lack of extraction does provide a lighter body. Pink grapefruit, peach, crisp acidity with nice minerality and notes of the sea. This one will surprise and delight you. It’s from the land of sand, wild horses and flamingos; Sable de Camargue.
Tasting Notes: preserved lemon, honeydew melon, white blossoms, white peach, crushed rocks
Recent Comments