Dan's Papers - July 3, 2009

If you read about wine in magazines, in newspapers or online, you've probably noticed the yearly onslaught of "Rosé is making a comeback" stories. These stories are largely the same, telling the tale of how blush wines like white zinfandel ruined rosé's reputation, and how American wineries are moving away from that style.

Fact is, this supposed comeback happened years ago. Rosé is here, and I hope to stay.

Call it blush, vin gris or just plain "pink" but there's no doubt about it, local winemakers - and wine lovers - are drinking pink. Why?

Roséé is a terrific alternative to white wine for red wine lovers who may not want to drink red wine in the heat of the summer. Well-made roséé combines the complexity and structure of red wine with the refreshing, thirst quenching qualities of whites.

Roséé is also incredibly versatile. Did you just buy some locally caught seafood? Roséé will complement it well. Serving smoky-sweet barbequed duck or even burgers? It works there too. You can even serve roséé with a steak. Seriously.

There are two main ways that roséé is made. The first and most traditional is the saignee method. Saignee means "to bleed" and it involves bleeding off some of the juice from red grapes to increase the skin-to-juice ratio in the red wine making process - making those reds wines more concentrated and flavorful. That bled off juice is then fermented to make rosé.

The second method is used when roséé wine is primary goal. Red wine grapes are crushed and the skins are allowed to remain in contact with the juice for only a short time. The grapes are then pressed, and the skins are discarded rather than left in contact throughout fermentation as with red wine making. Because the skins contain much of the flavor and color compounds, this leaves the wine tasting more similar to a white wine and looking pink rather than red. In both methods, some white grape juice may be added before fermentation - usually to bring crispness.

No matter the method, roséé is rarely, if ever, the focus for any winery. They aren't necessarily afterthoughts, but very few wineries set out to make a truly spectacular roséé - instead producing them to improve their red wines, round out their portfolios and meet consumer demand.

One local winery, Croteaux Vineyards in Southold, does focus on rosé - each of their four wines are rosés made with 100% merlot, ranging from the light, almost delicate 181 (named for that merlot clone) to the rich barrel-fermented 3 (also named for the clone) to the newly released Cuvee Sparkle (a blend of the 3 other wines that is carbonated using the Charmat method), each is distinctive and worthy of a place at your dinner table.

Another local producer, Channing Daughters Winery, makes three different rosés. Channing Daughters has a reputation for being experimental and trying new things. While most Long Island wineries focus on Bordeaux varieties, Channing Daughters thinks the region more closely resembles Northern Italy. They also grow unique-to-Long Island varieties like tocai friulano, Muscat ottonel and and aligote.

Their their Tre Rosati (three rosé) program - a line of vineyard- and variety-specific roséés was introduced with the 2005 vintage. The newly released 2008 rosati include Rosato di Cabernet Franc - Croteau Farm Vineyard, 2008 Rosati di Merlot - Mudd Vineyard and 2005 Rosati di Cabernet Sauvignon - Mudd Vineyard.

These are just two of my favorite rosé producers. There are terrific rosés being made all over the Island, including Paumanok Vineyards' 2008 Dry Rosé (made with cabernet sauvignon), Gramercy Vineyards 2008 Rosé (merlot), Shinn Estate Vineyards 2008 Rosé (merlot and cabernet franc), Wollfer Estate 2008 Rosé (merlot, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc), Macari Vineyards 2008 Rosé (cabernet franc, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir and malbec) and Roanoke Vineyards 2008 De Rosa (merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay).