Regardless of what you might call them -- Rosé, Rick’s Grape Skinny pink or blush wines are some of the most [email protected] aromatic, refreshing, delectable, and versatile food wines in the world! They range from sweet to very dry and there are all shades of pink -- from a rosy rich pink on one end -- to peachy pink in the middle -- to barely pink on the far end.

June 2014 “There is little else that says Summer to me like a lovely dry French Rosé!” (Sherri Sauter Morano, Master of Wine)

Real Men Drink Pink! Time to Man Up & Taste the Rosés! www.wine4soul.com To be sure…if ever there was a particular kind, style, ilk, or persuasion of wine that has been In France, it’s Rosé -- in Italy, Rosato -- and in chronically maligned and bestowed with a bum Spain, it’s Rosado! In my house it’s bottled Yum! rap over the years…that wine would likely be How are Rosé wines made? Very simply stated, Rosé wines are typically made from red grapes…though some white grapes can also be used in making Rosé wine. Rosés can be, and are, made from just about any and every red grape varietal…and Rosés are Rosé wine! And what a shame, for made by four fundamental approaches: there is hardly a tastier or more refreshing and traditional maceration; the saignée or bleeding versatile class of wine in the world! With great method; the vin gris process; or by blending. fondness, I remember when Mateus and Lancers were the in…and the it…Rosés -- and everybody • Maceration – grape skins and stems etc. who was anybody was drinking one or the other are left in contact with the grape juice or both of these über delicious Portuguese pinks. (must) to extract color, flavor, tannins, They were almost as famous for their bottles as etc. until they achieve the desired color. they were the juice…Mateus for its distinguished • Saignée -- a small amount of “red wine” must is bled off and used to make a Rosé. • Vin Gris – the process of making a “white wine” from red grapes – by very quickly removing the juice from contact with the Franken bocksbeutel shape and skins immediately after being crushed. It’s also the name of the slightly pink wine that is produced in this fashion. • Blending – the mixing together red and white wines to produce the desired Lancers for its brick-red ceramic bottle. attributes of color and taste etc.. While it’s a common approach in the US, it’s Time and progress took their toll on these fine actually prohibited in France…with a wines and on the popularity of Rosé wines in small exception being allowed for the general. They were often called “girlie wines” production of Pink Champagnes. and became the butt of way too many wine jokes! Rosés became closely associated with the Please hear this fellow enthusiasts and students typically sweet White Zinfandel…adding fuel to of the vine -- Real men Drink Pink!! It’s time to the mantra -- real men don’t eat quiche and they get our pink on boys and girls! And lest there be don’t drink Rosé either! What a bunch of hooey! doubt… those Pink Bubblies are très magnifique!

Grenache Toast of the Month Beckstoffer Wines Hogwash Rosé 2013 Vibrant, vivacious and Full of Va Va Voom! “May virtue and truth guide us in youth (Central Coast/ Mendocino – Napa, CA)/$17-$20 And may wine and sage bless our old age!” From one of the most respected growers in all of (Anonymous) California, this is a flavor-packed Rosé and it’s an Don’t Forget Flag Day extraordinarily excellent wine. The dynamic June 14th! winemaking duo of Tuck Beckstoffer and Frederick Delivert masterfully employed both saignée and traditional methods of making Rosé – and the result is a wine that you might not want to share! http://www.tbwines.com/

Blends A Bouquet of Rosés! Charles and Charles Rosé 2013 Succulent & Mouthwatering…Totally Delicious! Rosés (Columbia Valley, Walla Walla, WA) $11-$13 Carménère The “Charles and Charles” refers to Charles Bieler Viña Apaltagua Rosé of Carménère 2013 and Charles Smith – two of the smartest and best Clean, Crisp, Tart, Tangy, and Tasty! winemaking “wise guys” you could ever meet. (Central Valley -- Curico, Chile)/$12-$14 Smith is known for his eponymous Charles Smith What? A Rosé of Carménère? You bet’cha…and Wines…while Mr. Bieler is known more for being a boy is it ever a distinctive little dynamite of a Rosé! winemaking renegade! Interestingly, Monsieur Light salmon in color, this dazzlingly delicious kiss Bieler worked at Château Routas – one of France’s of sunshine is one of my favorite early Summer most prestigious Rosé producers -- for the better part finds! From Estate Vineyards that are nourished by of 2 years. When he returned from Provence, he the crystal waters of the nearby Andes Mountains, drove around the US in a pink Cadillac for about a versatility is this wine’s middle name! It’s a bottle year hawking Château Routas Rosé. These days, of bliss that goes with anything and everything from when he’s not teamed up with his eno-bud Charles BBQ ribs and salmon to seafood and poultry! Hey Smith, he’s one of the infamous Three Thieves even spicy Asian fare would be fair game! Winemaking team – with Joel Gott and Roger http://www.apaltagua.com/ Scommegna being the others. Whoever originated the term “dry Rosé” must have been sipping a wine just like Grignolino this ruby pink jewel! With a floral nose and fruit-salad Heitz Cellar Grignolino Rosé 2012 palate of flavor, this is a sassy but savory blend of Rhone mainstays – 86% Syrah, 6% Cinsault, 4 % Grenache, Like Strawberry Shortcake in a Bottle! 2% Mourvèdre, and 2% Counoise. It’s both a great (Napa Valley – Napa, CA) $18-$22 Summer porch wine and an exceptional food wine! Unusual and hard-to-find, even in its native http://bielerandsmith.com/ Piemonte (Piedmont) region of Northern Italy, this wonderfully distinctive Grignolino (Green-Yo- Gassier en Provence Sables d’Azur 2013 Leen-O) varietal is rarer yet in the United States. Light, Clean, Fresh, and Dazzlingly Delicious! With a heady floral bouquet and a subtly spicy (Côtes de Provence/ Protégée -- France)/$17-$20 nature, this little gem is affectionately called “the With its trademark aromatic notes of spice and little strawberry!” Heitz plants and perpetuates pepper, this is not your everyday, run-of-the-mill Grignolino in homage to a small roadside winery Rosé. Rather, this refreshingly delightful and stand owned by Leon Brendel that touted its fare as mouthwatering “pinky” is one of those Rosés that The One and Only -- the one and only Grignolino makes it abundantly clear that whoever chooses this wine made in California. Joe Heitz eventually wine doesn’t “settle!” A blend of 34% Grenache, bought that fellow’s 8 acre vineyard in 1961…and 33% Syrah and 33% Cinsault, it is precisely the began an unparalleled Napa legacy. Only 500 or so kind of Rosé, for which Provence is known and so cases of this ruby-red jewel of a wine are made each widely respected around the world. Vigneron, year…and it goes quickly…so get it if and when Guillaume Cordinis, can justifiably be proud! you can! www.heitzcellar.com/ http://classicwinesofcalifornia.com/gassier.html