Misunderstood rosé wine is worth exploring

Rosé is perhaps one of the most underrated and misunderstood wine styles in the world. It's confusing because rosé is not a well-defined style. When you order a glass of chardonnay or cabernet sauvignon, you can be fairly confident about the wine's flavor and structure, given a particular region. The same cannot be said for rosé.

Rosé is produced in nearly every region, technically from any red variety, and it can be dry, sweet or sparkling. To add to the confusion, many are blends!

In the U.S., rosé is perhaps most misunderstood for two reasons; first, consumers and retailers consider the style to be a seasonal or summertime wine. Secondly, consumers often associate pink wine with the widely popular, inexpensive, sweet white zinfandel. However, pink does not necessarily equal sweet. So what is it, and why should you give pink a chance?

What is rosé?

One of the greatest misconceptions is that rosé is a blend of red and white wine. It's not. The hue of a wine — red, white or rosé — results from skin contact after pressing. The longer the wine is left in contact with the skins after pressing the deeper the color and flavors become.

White wines are fermented without the skins, in fact, usually the skins are removed immediately after pressing the grapes to avoid extracting phenolic compounds from the skins and stems.

Rosé wines get their color from a brief maceration with the red or blue grape skins. The depth of the pigmentation is a result of many factors, length of time, temperature and how much alcohol is produced.

While red wines are left in contact with their skins for days and sometimes weeks, rosé wines have skin contact for only a few hours. Once the skins are removed, the wine is vinified in the same way that white wine would be, and most are fully fermented, leaving no residual sugar. The result is a dry pink wine with some of the color and aroma of a red wine and the structure and freshness of a white wine.

Delicious, food friendly and relatively affordable, it's puzzling why rosé isn't more popular and more widely available.

I asked Scott Hayward, owner of The Harvard General Store in Harvard, and Michael Covino, president and CEO of Niche Hospitality Group, for their insights.

'I'm a big fan of rosé' but…..

"I love rosé. I know it's a far more versatile wine than the market believes. However, I stop drinking it about the same time the market does, too. Why is that?" Hayward asks himself. "Generally speaking, in the consumer's mind, rosé is considered a warm weather wine that they can't wait for in early spring. They buy enormous quantities of it all summer long and then drop it like a hot potato on Labor Day."

He goes on to say, "I think there is something about rosé that lends itself to the warmer months that can't be explained by its taste alone. We keep drinking crisp citrusy whites during the winter. Maybe it's the color?"

Covino is also a year-round fan, but also recognizes that pink wines continue to be a seasonalized segment of the wine market.

"I'm a big fan of rosé. We have had success at Bocado, The Citizen and at The People's Kitchen. We only carry Spanish wines at Bocado and the wines at Citizen are more 'worldly.'"

As far as rosé is concerned, he says, "I think most people that are either into European wine or have been to France or Spain seem to understand the allure. I still feel that those people also get caught up in the seasonality of the style. May through September is peak rosé season for us."

Niche Hospitality caters to a diverse array of consumers in Worcester, Providence and Wellesley, where they've had success with rosé wines.

"I love it for a number of reasons," Covino says. The wines tend to be "pleasant to drink all by itself and fantastic with food. We sell a ton of charcuterie and cheese boards with a host of accoutrements and usually as a first course or early in the dining. The many styles of rosé tend to give acidity to cut through rich cheeses while cleansing the palate to taste all of these items without leaving flavors of one bold cheese or meat in the mouth. At the same time, the varying levels of body and texture and even spice that short macerations lend to the wine are wonderful with the cured meats and different sausages we love to feature."

The Harvard General Store must be a bit more careful when selecting a wine for a coveted spot in the wine rack, particularly if the wine has an uncertain appeal.

"I am a small wine shop so I am very selective and efficient when it comes to my inventory," Hayward explains. "Every wine is thought about and analyzed for its sales potential. I normally carry a Tavel and a rosé of cabernet sauvignon from California with a medium to fullish body."

He has identified a few sparkling rosés that consumers seek out year-round, "a pinot noir cremant from Alsace and a malbec cremant. The sparkling malbec can be great dessert wine, too." A fuller bodied and sparkling rosé like cremant sells well around the holidays. "Most consumers select it for its festive color and then come back for its taste," he says.

Hayward knows his customers well and tries to carefully select styles from well-known regions that are in demand for the rosé season. By winter's end Hayward is "out of everything but the cremants and nobody has complained."

What should we look for "in the pink" market?

Covino says, "I love garnacha/grenache and I find the D.O.s (Denominación de Origen/Designation of Origin) in Zaragoza are fantastic for the variety. Garnacha, for me, at its best, has amazing fruit but lots of structure and depth, particularly in old vines." While the variety loves warm and sunny climes "If not cool enough at night the loss of acidity is an issue and often relegates the grape as a great blending partner" because it has a tendency toward overripeness and high alcohol.

Look for producers in "Campo de Borja, Calatayud and Carinena (the D.O. not the grape). These are garnacha powerhouses. The climate is perfect." The variety thrives in regions where a balance of "hot days, yet cool/cold nights maintain the freshness and acidity" These regions offer a unique opportunity for quality garnacha due to their "high elevation, continental climate, and concentration of limestone where garnacha can develop the fruit and structure partnered with the freshness and acidity and vibrant minerality from the limestone soils. Hence some of my favorite rosés."

Hayward takes a similarly European approach. "In addition to my fuller bodied rosés, which are big sellers year-round, in the summer I like to carry rosés that represent different regions and different styles of wine making. For instance, I like to carry one or two Loire Valley varieties (Pineau d'Aunis), three or four from various areas of Provence, and something like a Cabernet Franc and definitely something from Italy. Italian rosés are very different than French." I love Massa Vecchia's rosato from Tuscany made from merlot grapes, although it's pretty pricey — about $55. To look at it you'd never know it's a rosé — very dark but wonderfully light.

How can we get more rosé on the shelves and wine lists? You MUST drink more rosé and drink it year-round! According to a January 2014 Nielsen report, U.S. retail sales of premium imported rosé wines (those priced at or above $12 a bottle) grew by 39 percent on volume and 48 percent on value in 2013. This is compared to growth rates of 1.2 percent on volume and 4.5 percent on value for the total table wine market.

Rosé is not white zinfandel nor is it a "seasonal" wine. If you are a consumer that has mistaken pink wine for white zinfandel or think that rosé should be put away with the white shoes on Labor Day I hope that this helps to clear up the confusion. Don't be afraid of the pink!

▪Stacy Woods a certified wine educator, is an instructor at Boston University's Elizabeth Bishop Wine Resource Center.