Summertime is Rosé Wine Time

07 Saturday Jun 2014

Tags

Provence Wine Council, Rose', Vins de Provence

If you could be a super hero, mythical character or fictional leader, who would you choose?

Superman? A Mutant Ninja Turtle? Or maybe Jean ValJean?

I’d be the Pied Piper! No, not the Middle Ages Pied Piper of Germany, who allegedly led children away from villages. Nor would I be the Pied Pier of 16th Century Germany who might have led rats from infested Dorfs! (small villages)

I’d be the Pied Piper of Provence, France, and lead you to dry, French Rosé wine.

One of the many great things about dry Rosé is that it can be made from different grapes and it’s produced all around the world. You can enjoy Cabernet, Malbec, Chambourcin, and Sangiovese Rosé.

Oregon’s Rosé of Pinot Noir and Provence Rosé tops them all for my palate. Every summer, for the past several years, I’ve written about Southern France’s famous salmon-pink wine. It excites me every May and delights me in June and July.

And it’s good news to report how other U.S. wine drinkers are in agreement. Provence Rosé wine sales continue to explode. French Provence Rosé exports went up an astounding 40 percent last year in volume and value. Astounding just too big a word or too much hyperbole for you? Measure the word’s use against the 2012 statistical report from the Provence Wine Council which reported a 41 percent increase two years ago and 62 percent jump in 2011.
“Exports of Provence Rosé to the United States show no signs of slowing down, and neither does consumer demand for rosé from Provence, the gold standard,” said Julie Peterson, in press materials, of the CIVP/Provence Wine Council’s U.S. trade office. “With these increased volumes flowing into the country, American consumers are also finding a wider variety of flavor profiles from producers across Provence.”

Besides the delightful mineralty, fruit, and freshness of dry Provence Rosé, Rosé is great for the price. Really good bottles can be found at $10-$20. As a matter of fact, Nielsen Research reports the average price per bottle is just $16.38.

Wine Travel
One of the best ways to learn more about wine and have a great vacation is travel to the great wine regions of the world. It’s been a real blessing to visit Napa/Sonoma, Italy’s Tuscany, Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Bordeaux, Chablis, and the Languedoc in France, along with California’s Central Coast in recent years.

I’m plugging two trips here so readers can follow along. I’ll be leading my first private Grape Sense wine tour June 9-13 in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. After a very short weekend, I’ll be in Italy for two weeks June 17-27. The Italy trip is for my work but I’ll be eating and drinking Italian and I’m sure to publish a few blog posts.

Follow both trips right here.

Dry Rose Captures American Palates

20 Monday May 2013

Posted by Howard in France, Newspaper Column 2013

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Tags

France, Julie Peterson, Provence, Provence Wine Council, Rose', Vins de Provence

Vins de Provence graphic

The numbers are staggering. Americans are falling in love with French dry Rosé. Last year imported Rosé went up 28 percent – most of that coming from Provence, France.

“The growth is partly led by the Mediterranean diet,” said Julie Peterson of the Provence Wine Council. “Rosé from Provence is less than 3 milligrams of sugar. It’s not very sweet, but has fruit flavors. But it’s a dry wine and it’s made with red grapes. So you have that great character of a red wine that is dry with a white wine feel in the mouth.”

But the explosive growth is not new. While most of the wine market grows at single digits in the best years, Provence imports to the U.S. have grown at double-digit rates every year since 2003.

“Provence is the biggest exporter and producer of Rosé in the world and they’ve been making Rosé for 26 centuries – or as long as anyone has been making wine. The largest percent of their production is Rosé. Provence is the gold standard and Americans are discovering that.”

Peterson’s job is to help spread the word. She was in Chicago earlier this year for Provence producers’ first visit to the Windy City. More than 20 Provence winemakers poured their wines for importers, wholesalers, and the wine media.

That salmon-pink wine is not setting on shelves long either. U.S. retail sales of Rosé wines priced at or above $12 a bottle grew by 28 percent volume and 23 percent on dollars in 2012. That’s a stunning comparison to the 1.8 percent of volume and 4.8 percent in dollars for total U.S. retail table wine sales.

Rosé wine has been a fixture in France for many years. It’s often consumed at lunch, near the ocean and particularly during warm weather. But it’s also a remarkably versatile wine with food.

It’s important to understand, as Peterson noted, that the dry light pink wine is made from red wine grapes. Red wine is given extensive contact with the grape skins to create the color while Rose’ has minimal contact with the skins to get the desired pink hues and lighter flavor.

Provence Rosé is a blend made from some combination of Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah, Mourvedre, Tibouren, Carignan, or Cabernet Sauvignon.

In Provence, Rosé is king with nearly 88 percent of all production devoted to Rose’ over traditional red and white wines. Provence produces 40 percent of France’s AOC Rosé. The French AOC designation is an assurance of authenticity and quality as established by government regulation.

Simply put for the average wine consumer, dry Rosé is not the pink white Zinfandel from the 1970s. Dry Rosé is a sophisticated wine of strawberry, mineral and acid that’s refreshing all alone or delicious with lighter meals. And most really great Provence is priced less than $10!

Howard’s Provence Picks: Chateau La Tour De Beraud, Chateau Revelette, and two personal favorites, Andieux & Fils and Domaine Ott.