Rosé makes a comeback

WINEMAKERS ARE GOING FOR RIGHT CULTIVARS New generation of drinkers are being lauded for having sophisticated palates.

There was a time when rosé wines were considered the drink of boozy dilettantes, being both exceedingly pink and sickly sweet. Their popularity waned in the ’90s, either because their previous adherents got tired of the heartburn and hangovers… or discovered chardonnay.

Rosé is making a comeback abroad and the new generation of its drinkers are being lauded for having sophisticated palates. The trend of “you can be serious with pink” has also gained traction in South Africa.

Here are five new-style rosé wines and the thoughts of some of their creators: Mourvédre Rosé – Babylonstoren

There are three accepted methods of making a rosé: blending red and white wines to achieve the desired colour and flavour profile; mixing red and white grapes at the beginning of the fermentation process, and making it from red grape varietals.

A red wine’s colour comes not from the juice of the grape but from its skin. The more time spent “on the skin”, the darker the wine.

“With very gentle pressing,” says Babylonstoren’s Klaas Stoffberg, “most of the colour is retained in the skin, with the juice decanted almost immediately.”

The Mourvédre Rosé has been called “Wimbledon in a glass, all strawberries and cream”.

Needless to Say Rosé – Simonsig

The market growth of rosé “is a combination of people looking for something new and the fact the wines now add a lot more flavour”, says legendary Simonsig cellarmaster Johan Malan.

“They combine the ‘body’ of reds with the fullness and fruitiness of whites which makes them more enjoyable to drink. The romantic colour adds to their marketability.”

Simonsig’s Needless to Say Rosé is described as “fruity and dry, with the colour of a cotton candy sunset radiating from the glass”. It is a blend of Chenin Blanc (64%) and Pinotage Rosé (36%).

Grenache Noir Rosé – La Petite Ferme

This boutique Franschhoek estate’s Grenache Noir Rosé comes from a red grape and has a maidenly pink blush.

Winemaker Wikus Pretorius insists one of the most positive aspects of rosé’s revival is that winemakers are choosing “the right cultivars” to make worldclass wines.

“It has been quite a job to educate the public that such things as dry rosés exist and that drinking a pink wine didn’t make you a Philistine. Another was to inform them that it was an ideal wine to drink with a meal, especially in summer.”

Syrah Rosé – Groot Phesantekraal

White wine with fish, red with meat, right?

It’s always a conundrum which wine to order with a meal, especially when there are just two of you.

Do you order wine first and choose from the menu accordingly? Or do you eat what you want and “suck up” what a more self-centred partner requested?

During a recent lunch with Groot Phesantekraal’s Richard Schroeder and Anel Neethling, we ordered wildly different starter and main courses, and the Syrah Rosé paired perfectly with them all.

“Pick your Syrah grape at the right time and you get a flavour that improves its diversity with food,” says Schroeder.

Philip Jonker Rose a Rosé – Weltevrede

In the beginning, there was Fifth Avenue Cold Duck… a carbonated pink plonk that helped corrupt many young women at parties in my younger years.

Properly made sparkling wines have, however, improved immeasurably in the past two or so decades and this has resulted in remarkable sales – especially in Gauteng – over the last few years.

The only sparkling wine in this list, the Philip Jonker is a confirmation that a pink Cap Classic doesn’t have to be sweet or off-dry. With demi-sec rosé bubblies flying off the shelves in Jo’burg, the bone-dry Rosetta is a welcome alternative for those whose palates prefer less sugary offerings.

It’s been a job to educate the public that such things as dry rosés exist