Pretty in pink: sophisticated wine lovers find rose Champagne riveting at the table

Nation's Restaurant News,  Nov 27, 2006  by Mary Ewing-Mulligan,  Ed McCarthy

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It's amazing how customs change.

A decade ago, the only pink beverage that had any faithful following was white Zinfandel. "Serious" consumers shunned rose wines-both in bubbly and nonbubbly form--because of the ill-informed belief that anything pink must be sweet or of poor quality.

But today's sophisticated drinkers have adopted pink drinks in a big way. Rose Champagnes and other sparkling roses, in particular, are in demand.

There's something magical about Champagne, the way those tiny bubbles come racing upward, and rose Champagnes always have been associated with romantic liaisons and special occasions. Now they are finding their way to the dinner table. Roses complement many dinner entrees, as they are generally more full-bodied than other types of Champagne.

Rose Champagne has been in and out of fashion since 1800, but it had not reached today's height of popularity since those great party years, the 1920s. Quite a few Champagne houses that had previously frowned upon roses now are increasing their rose production. Today, not only does almost every Champagne producer make a rose, but most also make two different roses. Some make three: a standard nonvintage, a vintage and a prestige cuvee rose.

California, in particular, has been making superb rose bruts. Italy now offers its Prosecco as a rose--presumably the result of blending the juice or wine of the white Prosecco grape with red grapes or wine--as does Spain with its bubbly cava roses. California and Spain sometimes offer a Blanc de Noirs--a pink-colored bubbly made primarily from black grapes, which is a variation on the sparkling rose theme. Many value-priced sparkling roses also are made in other parts of France, especially in the Loire Valley.

The two grape varieties used to produce most rose Champagnes are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Some producers also use Pinot Meunier, a black-grape relative of Pinot Noir. Producers who prefer a lighter, more elegant style use more Chardonnay in their cuvees, while those looking to make a more full-bodied, fruitier rose use mainly black grapes and sometimes make 100 percent Pinot Noir roses.

Rose Champagnes are slightly more expensive than their white counterparts because of the additional expense involved in producing them. Rose Champagnes obtain their color by one of two methods. The most commonly employed manner is by simply adding a small amount of Pinot Noir wine to the Champagne cuvee. A few Champagne houses use the more difficult skin-contact method, in which the skins of dark grapes soak in the must until the desired color is achieved.

Rose Champagnes are made in the brut style: They might be fruitier than other types of Champagne, but they're typically quite dry to fairly dry. Roses come in a wide spectrum of colors--ranging from pale onion skin, topaz, copper or salmon to deep pink, bordering on light red. The deeper-colored rose Champagnes tend to be fruitier than the lighter-colored rose Like all Champagnes, roses age well, some up to 15 years or more if stored in a cool place, but most roses are at their best when consumed within 10 years.

Although rose Champagne and other rose sparkling bruts can be served as aperitifs--especially the lighter, elegantly styled ones--bubbly roses are at their best at the dinner table, where they can ably replace red wines. Many full-flavored main-course entrees, such as game birds, veal, pork and young lamb--especially when cooked rare-are perfect with rose Champagnes. We do not recommend sparkling roses with desserts, however; they're too dry, and will only taste bitter with sweet desserts.

We prefer to serve rose Champagnes, especially the more full-flavored ones, in tall, tulip-shaped glasses or standard white wine glasses rather than narrow flutes. The full flavors of rose Champagnes need wider-mouthed glasses to express their wonderful floral and red berry aromas. In addition, like all Champagnes, roses need to be served cold, about 45 degrees to 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Wholesale prices for sparkling rose bruts range from as low as $40 for a 6-bottle case of Spanish cava on up. Rose Champagnes start at about $320 wholesale for a case of 12.

Considering the soaring popularity of rose Champagnes and other sparkling roses, restaurants would be remiss not to have a few representatives on their wine lists.

winedum@aol.com

WINE OF THE WEEK

Gosset Grand Rose NV Champagne (France)

Gosset, a fairly small Champagne house and one of the oldest, most historic firms, makes roses one of its specialties. Its nonvintage Grand Rose Brut, with aromas and flavors of small fresh strawberries, is very dry, and made in a light, elegant style. It's perfect as an aperitif as well as with dinner.

Wholesale price is $299 per case of six or $268 per case of 12 half-bottles.

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