Wine Trends: Rose Wine are Red Hot This Summer

Wine Trends: Rose Wine are Red Hot This Summer

I'm not much of a rose wine drinker. A couple years ago I wouldn't be caught dead with a rose wine. They were too sweet. They were for my friends who preferred a lighter fare for their wine drinking escapades or couldn't hang with the big bodied red wines that I preferred.To each their own. Roses were just not my flavor. 

However, all of that changed when I found J.L. Quinson. Seduced by the feminine curves of the bottle, I grabbed a bottle as I perused the rest of the wine section. Upon returning home, the bottle of Quinson sat on my wine rack for a few days longer than the rest of my traditional white wine and red wine friends. Left with nothing else to sip, I chilled my only bottle of wine - J.L. Quinson - one warm summer eve.

To my surprise this rose wine was not sweet. In fact, it was quite dry. Pleasantly dry. And when properly chilled this French rose is the perfect way to unwind during the warm summer months.

It seems as though the old world stigma of rose wines as a less superior vintage is changing. In fact, rose wines are becoming quite popular according to several wine industry experts. 

“It’s really amazing how people are drinking rose so much,” says Michael Madrigale, head sommelier at New York’s Bar Boulud and Boulud Sud restaurants. “Before, two men sitting at a table would never be caught dead drinking rose and now you see it all the time. The stigma of rose being a wimpy wine and rose being white zinfandel and therefore a bad wine is gone and I think the European attitude has really taken hold.”

One thing I didn't realize until I started to explore my new found summer wine is that most roses are made with red grapes, but the skins have been in contact with the fermenting juice for only a short time, hence the pink color. Syrah, grenache and cinsault grapes are typical in rose wines from the South of France, but all kinds of grapes can be used.

So, the question remains...are you a rose wine drinker?

Share with us in the comments wine friends! Then, share this post with your friends.

Cheers!

Katie

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