As we move into the warm part of the year our eating habits tend to move to the lighter fare or grilled foods as we gravitate to the outdoors. Our leisure time includes more barbeques and picnics, trips to the beach or lake, parties and celebrations, etc. This is the time of year when Rose (pronounced "rozay") wines start to appear on the shelves of wine retailers, and with good reason. These pink wines are extremely versatile and work wonderfully as complements to our warm weather fare, and in many cases give dyed in the wool red wine drinkers a better alternative than white wine.

You may be familiar with the sweeter styled blush wines, the most famous being White Zinfandel, first produced in the mid 70's in California. This sweet wine was an instant hit in the US; it enjoyed unsurpassed popularity for several decades, introducing many people to their first wine experience. But as US consumption moved to less sugary wines, sales of Rose or blush wines diminished as a result, largely because of the perception that Roses were all like White Zinfandel.

Rose has been around for many years in most wine producing areas of the world, but it is only recently that the US consumer has picked up on the dry styled Rose wine that is produced throughout the rest of the world. Fortunately for us the tide is turning and over the last few years we are seeing more and more quality Rose in the US.

These wines are produced all over the world's famous wine regions, and can be made from virtually any of the traditional red grape varietals. The south of France produces many great Roses, especially in the Tavel and Provence regions, but also in the Languedoc, and Loire Valley, using Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and Gamay to name a few.

Italians call theirs Rosato and although examples can be found from almost every Italian grape used for red wine, the most famous use Sangiovese. In Spain they are Rosado, often made of Garnacha or Tempranillo. South American producers in Argentina and Chile make Rose from Malbec as well as other French varietals, in the US they are produced from any grape the winemaker chooses to work with. As with most US produced wines, the Roses made here tend to be a little fuller in style than the other regions in the world.

Best served chilled, Rose can be used interchangeably with white wine. They tend to have a little more body than whites, yet retain the cool crispness that works so well as a food pairing. Wonderful with virtually any fresh fish or shellfish, a crisp Rose is the wine of choice in most of the little seaside cafes in the south of France. Rose is also an excellent accompaniment to poultry, pork or veal dishes as well as a nice match for spicy dishes, making them one of the safest wines to bring to a party when you don't know the menu. You will find that the pricing is very reasonable, more like white wine pricing than red, so you can experiment within these wines without breaking the bank. Enjoy your summer with a cool glass of Rose!

About the Vintner 

The Wine Club has been offering fine wines and accessories at discounted prices since 1985. Today there are 3 stores in California: Santa Ana, San Francisco, and Santa Clara, and www.thewineclub.com, a web store that has a constantly changing inventory of over 1200 different wines and accessory items for you to choose from, you can pick them up or we can ship to most of the USA. Stores are open 7 days a week and each has wine tasting events scheduled on most weekends, so come on by and visit.