Redeeming Rosé

For a long time now I have been guilty. Guilty of slandering a type of wine that deserves nothing but reverence! Alas, I know I am not alone in thinking that all wines called "rosé" taste like Ernest & Julio Gallo's White Zinfandel. (For those of you who enjoy this wine, I apologize. But really, you MUST do yourself a favour - just keep reading!) In fact, there is a world of great, dry rosés out there. I've read about "Rosados" from an area of Spain called Navarre which are supposed to be fantastic, but have yet to try one myself.

About 2 weeks ago we were looking at wine (I was looking for the perfect white to go with my stuffed mushrooms - a Viognier from Australia turned out to be perfect) and I was approached by a gentleman working there asking if I needed help. Well, actually, first he stopped to comment on the beer I was holding - Kronenbourg 1664- a really great French beer.
Anyways, we then started talking about a number of wines. After he finished telling me one of my favourite wines tasted like tap water (well la-di-da!) he proceeded to tell Percy and I about rosés. He simply couldn't believe that we had yet to enjoy a rosé in the summer heat, especially when dining al fresco. In fact, he told us a story about this man (a vintner maybe?) that he had spoken with while visiting Bordeaux. Apparently it is practically sacrilege to drink white wine if you are Bordelaise. So, what's the next best thing?? "Le rosé naturellement!" And of course this was all delivered in a great mock French accent. However, that's not the end of the story....he then brought us over to the US section and showed us a rosé that was almost $20 cheaper than usual. Apparently, and this brings this article full circle, in the southern states rosé has a bad rep due to White Zin and so it can be hard to sell rosés at full price. Well, after tasting this wine that suits me just fine:

Kendall-Jackson
Grand Reserve 2006 Rosé Wine
California

Check out your liquor store or wine market for this one. In Calgary I found it at Willowpark. I don't know if it's still on for $11 (rather than $30) but it's worth every penny, either way.

So - hide from the sun no more! When you're armed with a refreshing glass of rosé you can handle the heat. And if you don't believe me, go to Willowpark and ask my wine guy - he'll tell ya! Unless of course you think the Bordelaise don't know their wine.......

Pairing rosé with food is easy according to my wine guy. Since the response "anything" is not good enough for me, I did a search:

Pair rosé with:

• pizza (yes!)
• rich patés
• tomato seafood sauces
• pork
• roast turkey (what a nice change for Thanksgiving and Christmas!)
• tuna, shellfish, shrimp
• salads
• vegetarian casseroles

Thanks to nataliemaclean.com for this information. Natalie also has a great new-ish book out: "Red, white, and drunk all over. Check it out, it will make you jealous, and impassioned.

p.s. I'm about to leave for Northwestern Ontario to visit with my family on the lake. I will return August 14th - check back then for more! I think I'll share a favourite family recipe from the cabin.