WINE DINE AND TRAVEL MAGAZINE FALL/SPRING 2015

WHITLEY ON WINE
| ROBERT WHITLEY |
DRINKING PINK
It was a warm summer day in the south of France. The entire
village of Grasse, it seemed, had turned out for lunch this
Monday afternoon on the terrace at La Bastide Saint Antoine,
where the Michelin-starred chef Jacques Chibois oversees the
kitchen.
Everything about the day was impeccable. The sunlight, the
fresh air, the glint of the Mediterranean
in the distance all served
as the perfect backdrop to Chibois’
legendary cuisine.
And on every table, under every
umbrella, there was a bottle of
pink wine. Chilled, crisp, refreshing,
dry rose wine from Provence.
The parade of pink wine was nearly
unanimous except for the occasional
bottle of Champagne.
The message from the huddled
masses was not lost on this foreign
visitor. When you are hot and
parched, with a mighty thirst and
a craving for an adult beverage,
there are worse ways to idle away
a summer afternoon than sipping
on a well-made dry rose wine as
you gaze in the direction of the sea.
I’ve been hooked on dry rose ever
since, but until recently my rose
thirst has been quenched for the
most part by wines produced in
France, Spain and Italy. Domestic
production of rose has generally
trended toward sweeter wines,
particularly white Zinfandel.
White Zin, as it is known, was important
to the wine industry in
the 1980s because it saved many
old Zinfandel vineyards from extinction.
Zinfandel, the bold red
wine many believe is native to
California, had fallen out of favor
at the time, but the invention and
instant popularity of “white Zin”
kept many of the old Zinfandel
vineyards in production.
That was a good thing, and now
old-fashioned red Zinfandel is
once again a consumer favorite,
with a nod toward “white Zin” for keeping the vineyards alive.
White Zin, on the other hand, created a backlash against
rose because of its significantly high levels of residual sugar.
Emerging wine consumers, especially those new to the pleasures
of the grape, assumed – wrongly – that all rose wine was
sweet.
Sensing the public mood, many
domestic wine producers either ignored
rose altogether or made it in
such limited quantities that good,
dry domestic rose similar to rose
made in France, Spain and Italy was
difficult to find.
I am happy to report that domestic
producers are becoming bolder in
their embrace of rose, and as an example
I commend to you the beautiful
J Vineyards 2013 Vin Gris, made
from Pinot Noir grapes, that was
published last week in the WRO Reviews
section.
I confess I had a moment of nostalgia
as I took a sip. It was suddenly
a sunny summer day in the south
of France, rubbing elbows with the
townfolk of Grasse as they idled
away a lazy summer day.
J Vineyards 2013 Vin Gris, Russian
River Valley ($20) – My sense
is that demand for rosé wine is up
significantly, although I haven't seen
any statistics to support that view.
What I do know is that more domestic
producers are making a rosé
and making it better than ever. This
rosé from J is made from Pinot Noir
grapes using the saignee method
of bleeding the Pinot Noir fermentation
tanks early on, before too
much contact between the juice and
the skins, which can impart bitter
tannins. The J Vin Gris is fresh and
clean, with mouth-watering acidity
and beautiful aromas of strawberry
and tart cherry. And it has arrived
just in time for those warm Indian
Summer afternoons. 92 points
76 Wine Dine & Travel Winter 2015