It seems like rosé wines suddenly are popular in the Northwest.
What happened? I gave up on them years ago after discovering a world beyond California’s pallidly pink white Zin.
The rebirth of rosé in the Northwest can be attributed to several occurrences, most notably the ever-increasing number of grape varieties that the region’s grape growers have been experimenting with.
The current favorite and most successful of the new breed of rosé is being made from the Italian grape, Sangiovese. Maryhill Winery nabbed a unanimous Double Platinum with its 2006 Rosé of Sangiovese in Wine Press Northwest’s Platinum judging last fall.
This dry wine’s rush of cherry flavors, splash of sweet spice and perfect acidity made it one of the four top-rated wines out of 258 wines sampled in the tasting. That’s pretty heady company for a $14 wine from this winery, which overlooks the Columbia River from the Washington side a few miles upriver from The Dalles, Ore.
And Maryhill wasn’t alone in grabbing a slew of gold medals for its rosé in the past year. Barnard Griffin of Richland, Wash., won a double gold with its 2006 Rosé of Sangiovese ($11), head and shoulders in terms of quality above plenty of $50 red wines with big reputations.
Those honors were no fluke. Maryhill’s version had previously won a gold at the San Francisco International Wine Competition. Barnard Griffin’s Best Rosé at the Riverside International Wine Competition and a gold at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. And the 2007 won the rosé sweepstake at this year’s Chronicle competition.
In our previous issue, Wine Press Northwest also ranked two other rosé wines as “Outstanding” — the 2005 rosé from Farm Boy Wines in Prosser, Wash., and the 2006 Rosé the Riveter from Working Girl Wines/Olympic Cellars in Port Angeles, Wash. The Farm Boy version was made from 68 percent Sangiovese and 32 percent Cabernet Franc from the Wahluke Slope and the Working Girl from Lemberger grown at Champoux Vineyards in the Horse Heaven Hills. The prices? Only $12 for the Farm Boy and $14 for the Rosé the Riveter.
In the past year, the magazine has evaluated rosé wines made from varying blends of Sangiovese, Malbec, Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Dolcetto (another Italian red grape), Merlot, Pinot Gris, Lemberger, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Counoise, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Syrah, Viognier, Riesling, Tempranillo, Chasselas Dore, Siegerrebe, Roussanne, Gewürztraminer and even huckleberry juice!
No matter how they’ve been made, many of them have been top-rated and fall into the $10-$15 bracket. If the combination of low price and high quality aren’t big enough attractions, wine loves ought to rediscover another facet of rosé — its versatility.
You can take it on a picnic with cheeses, cold cuts, crusty French bread, olives and fresh fruit and other finger food, or you can pop the cork on a bottle to pour with your Easter ham or Thanksgiving turkey. A fine dry rosé will work with those and many other meals.
Slip some of a rosé blend with a good dose of hearty reds into a black glass, and more than a few folks will have a hard time sorting it out from a red.
Wine Word: Methusaleh
In the world of wine, there are a number of so-called large-format bottles that are legally permitted, although just exactly how big they are depends on whether you’re in Bordeaux, Champagne, Burgundy or perhaps somewhere else.
In Burgundy or Champagne, a Methusaleh is 6 liters, the equivalent of eight 750-ml bottles. In Bordeaux, that size is likely to be labeled an Imperiale. For the curious reader, after the 1.5-liter Magnum, the other large-format sizes are: Marie-Jeanne (Bordeaux, 2.25 liters); the 3-liter Double Magnum (Bordeaux) and Jeroboam (Burgundy/Champagne); the 4.5-liter Jeroboam (Bordeaux) and Rehoboam (Burgundy/Champagne); and, in Burgundy/Champagne only, the 9-liter Salmanazar, 12-liter Balthazar and 15-liter Nebuchadnezzar.
Getting it just right
An alert Canadian reader poked me with an e-mail noting that my last column, in which I discussed how much alcohol a Canadian citizen can bring back home without paying duty and taxes, was not quite correct.
I failed to mention that a Canadian who’s been in the United States for fewer than 48 hours cannot bring any alcohol back home without paying duty and taxes. After 48 hours, Canadians can bring back either 1.5 liters of wine (alias two 750-ml bottles) or 1.14 liters of liquor.
Steve Savitt, who didn’t indicate where he’s from, sent me to the following link to the Web site of the Canada Border Services Agency: www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/pub/bsf5056-eng.html
To Mr. Savitt, thank you. To my readers, sorry for the omission. If I inconvenienced anyone at the border, I’ll offer to make amends by reimbursing the first five claimants who had to pay duty or taxes on their two 750-ml bottles (send in your receipt), in exchange for a reply via e-mail or snail mail listing their favorite Northwest white wine, their favorite Northwest red wine and their favorite restaurant to consume either of their choices. Include its address.
Help me learn from my mistake.
* Ken Robertson, a newspaperman for 38 years, has enjoyed sipping and writing about Northwest wines for
30 years. He lives in Kennewick, Wash. Do you have a question for Ken? E-mail it to krobertson@winepressnw.com.
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