Getting Serious About Rosé #1: Pinot Noir Rosé (Choose a Rosé based on the red wines you like!)

Show Notes

Episode 126: Getting Serious About Rosé #1: Pinot Noir Rosé   00:00

Hello! And welcome to The Wine Pair Podcast. I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and this is my wife and my wine pairing partner in crime, Carmela. And we are The Wine Pair! 

If you are new to our podcast, here is a quick orientation! Each week, we explore a different wine varietal or blend or style — like Pinot Noir or Bordeaux or Rosé — and dive into what makes it unique, special, and worth learning about. Our goal is to help you expand your wine knowledge in a fun way that normal people can understand. We also taste and review 2-3 wines under $20 each, and share our scores and recommendations to help you find great wines without breaking the bank. So, thank you so much for joining us; we promise it will be worth your time! And, we are proud to say that Decanter Magazine calls us fun, irreverent, chatty, and entertaining. And also I will say that this week we were in the top 100 of Food podcasts on Apple Podcasts. So that’s pretty cool! 

Ok, so a couple of weeks ago we mentioned that a listener was asking some questions about rosé wine, and if we liked it, and what we liked, and what we thought of it and it struck me that it would be helpful for us to do a series of episodes on rosé to get you and us a little more educated on the wine - because I think rosé is one of the more misunderstood and confusing wines out there. It is also very polarizing, and I think part of the reason is that it is misunderstood, and often maligned as an unserious wine.

And we have not exactly been helping the cause because one of our first episodes ever was called F that wine rosé, which was based on a series of episodes around wines that we hate that we no longer do, because we did not understand rosé very well and because we think, as our daughter would say that you should not yuck someone's yum; and because we feel that there is an opportunity to learn and educate because some people tend to just order or refuse to order a rosé without understanding how broad and complex the world of rosé can be. 

So, instead of being ignorant or snobby, we thought we’d focus on learning about it instead. And we have actually found that there are some rosés that we really like! And that is why we are calling this new series Getting Serious About Rosé - and we will spend time in each episode learning more about the vast world of Rosé that may be quite different than you think!

Ok, first things first, let’s talk about what rosé is and what it is not. Rosé is not red and white wines blended together. Rosé is also not a varietal of wine, meaning, it is not a specific wine in and of itself, but instead it is a style of winemaking. What do we mean by that? Rosé is not made from a specific grape - rosé can be made from many, many different grapes - both single grapes and blends. And I think a lot of people do not know that. 

What makes it a rosé is that it is a wine made from red grapes where the skins are in contact with the juice after pressing for only a short period of time, less than 24 hours - which is what gives it its pink color. There are actually a few different ways to make rosé, and we have some good articles in our show notes if you want to learn more. But here are some simple ways to explain them.

The most common way of making rosé is via a method called maceration, and in this method, the grapes are crushed and then allowed to macerate, or rest on the skins, for between 2 and 24 hours.

Another way of making rosé is called saignée which means“bleeding off,” and this is what some call a less intentional way of making rosé - basically, wine makers are making red wine, and they remove some of the wine early in the fermentation process and separate it to make a rosé wine.

The last method is called direct press, and in this style winemakers crush the red wine grapes and drain the juice off of the skins immediately, making a very light pink wine.

The method used will have an impact on the taste of the wine, but the biggest impact will be what grape the wine is made from, and that is the key. You can’t say you like or don’t like rosé until you have tried rosé made from many different grapes - because a wine made from one grape will taste different from a wine made from another grape. That’s just facts. And, our rule of thumb for really learning about and maybe even finding a rosé you like is to start with a rosé made from a red wine you like. 

That’s right - think about a red wine that you enjoy, and then try and find a rosé made from that wine. Even better, find it from a winemaker that you like - see if they make a rosé, and you may find you really like what they make. 

I will also say that the predominant type of rosé you often find is from Provence, France, and that rosé probably is the rosé you think of when you think of rosé - which is made from Grenache, Syrah, Syrah, Mourvèdre and a few other grapes That version of rosé tends to be very light, floral, sometimes watermelony, and can often seem pretty sweet. In a future episode, we will look at those wines, too, but I will say that is not our favorite type of rosé.

However, today we are going to talk about rosé made from Pinot Noir, because we love Pinot Noir, and as I mentioned starting with a red wine you like is a great idea, and asI also said, in future Getting Serious About Rosé episodes we’ll try rosé wines from different grapes, and we have two Pinot Noir Rosé wines that we are going to taste and review today, and we’ll get to that in a minute  . . . 

But first . . . we have to do our shameless plug.

Thank you for listening to us and for supporting our show, and if you haven’t had the chance to do so yet, now would be the perfect time to subscribe to our podcast  - and look, if you haven’t subscribed or clicked the follow button yet, all we can say is what in the world are you waiting for?

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And we want to make content you care about and you like, so send us a note and tell us what you like and don’t like, if there are wines you want us to try or wine making areas of the world you are curious about - and we’ll take care of it!

And, as we do every week, we’ll tell you someone we think you should recommend The Wine Pair Podcast to so we can keep growing listeners. This week, we want you to recommend us to anyone who is just not sure about rosé and needs a little edumacation, especially if they like Pinot Noir


ARTICLES and LINKS

• https://legrandcourtage.com/a-guide-to-rose-what-it-is-how-it-is-made-and-what-it-pairs-with/#:~:text=Even%20through%20Ros%C3%A9%20wine%20is,flavor%20profile%20than%20red%20wine. 

Topic: WTF is Pinot Noir Rosé? 12:25

So, like we said, rosé is a style of wine making, not a specific wine, and that confuses a lot of people. But we are here to un-confuse you!

Some of the things we are going to talk about are about rosé itself, and some will be specific to rosé made from Pinot Noir. And we are starting this series on getting serious about rosé with Pinot Noir because, again, we tend to really like Pinot Noir wines and so what better place to start?!?

First, rosé made from Pinot Noir tends to be dry, and that’s the way we like it. Dry wines are wines that generally ferment longer, and you can usually tell if a wine is going to dry or sweet by the level of alcohol. Drier wines are higher in alcohol content because they have converted more of the sugar into alcohol. Pinot Noir rosé also tends to be described as crisp and refreshing with good acidity. So these are good summer wines.

That does not mean that dry rosé from Pinot Noir will not have sweetness to it. One of the characteristics of rosé in general is that it tends to be a fruity wine because it is very rarely oaked, and the short time on the skins does not infuse tannins. From a flavor perspective, Pinot Noir rosés have red berry flavors like strawberry, sometimes tart red cherries or white cherries, and you may also get some peach, rose, lemon, orange, or pomegranate. 

Pinot Noir rosés can vary in shade or color. They are usually light pink, but we have seen very bright red rosés, almost like the juice from maraschino cherries in color. The color has an impact on the flavor, and that is because the color comes from how long the juice is in contact with the skins.

Remember, grape juice is generally clear when it is squeezed from a grape. It is the skin contact that gives red and rosé wines their color. 

A couple of other things to note about Pinot Noir rosé. You can definitely find Pinot Noir rosé in France, particularly Burgundy which is the birthplace of Pinot, and rosé Champagne is always made from Pinot Noir. In the US, the best Pinot Noir rosé will come from Oregon, but if you are looking at California Pinot Noir rosés, we would look for cooler climate areas like Sonoma. New Zealand is also starting to make some nice rosé Pinot Noirs. Today, just so you know, we are drinking wines from California.

If you are looking for a more serious, elegant rosé, Pinot Noir rosé is a great choice. It is a great spring and summer wine, but it is versatile enough to work at any time of year, and with a lot of different foods.

Now, rosé is known to be notoriously hard to pair with food, but again, that is because it is not a well understood wine, and it really depends on the grape and the style of rosé. Pinot Noir rosé works well with foods like chicken and turkey, shellfish and sushi, goat cheese salads, tapas, and Mediterranean cuisine. It is an excellent wine with charcuterie boards, and can even work with spicy foods.

I think that’s enough on Pinot Noir rosé in general, and remember that we always have links to the information we use to create these episodes in our show notes, so stop by our website thewinepairpodcast.com to look for this episode and find the show notes. 

But let’s talk about the wines we are drinking today!

ARTICLES and LINKS

• https://www.pacificrimandco.com/blog/pinot-noir-rose 
• https://www.wineenthusiast.com/ratings/wine-ratings/top-12-pinot-noir-roses-of-2022/ 
• https://sommdigiblog.com/rose-wine/a-guide-to-rose-pinot-noir 

Pinot Noir Rosé Wines We Chose for This Episode 17:04

As usual, all of the wines we have chosen for this episode are under $20, and all of them should be relatively easy to find because I bought them all on wine.com. Rosé wine will not be hard to find at all, but, and this is a big but, you need to look for the grape the wine is made from, if we have not made this abundantly clear by now. So don’t just pick up any rosé. Try and look for one made from Pinot Noir the next time you are out and about, and look for one that is over 13% alcohol, because that will indicate it is dry. We will also say that the two Pinot Noir Rosé Wines we are drinking today should be easy to find because they are made by well-known winemakers. 

The first Pinot Noir Rosé we are going to try is the 2022 La Crema Pinot Noir Rosé. Again, La Crema is definitely a wine maker you can easily find in your local wine shop or wine section of your grocery store. They make a ton of wine - about a million cases of wine per year - although not all, obviously, is Rosé.

La Crema is located in Sonoma, but they make wines from grapes all over California and Oregon, generally focusing on cooler-climate wines, and this wine is from Monterey, which is south of Sonoma and is considered part of the Central Coast of California. 

The La Crema Pinot Noir Rosé is 100% Pinot Noir, and interestingly enough, they give their wine a kiss of oak. California wineries just can’t help themselves I think. They say that they ferment 96% of the wine in stainless steel and 4% in neutral oak. So, we’ll see if we can get that little bit of vanilla or mouthfeel from the oak. It’s such a small percentage that I wonder why they do it at all. I should also mention that La Crema claims that this wine is certified sustainable, if that is important to you.

This wine got a 91 rating from Wine Enthusiast, so I have some hopes that this will be a good wine.

The second wine we are going to taste and review is the 2022 Rodney Strong Rosé of Pinot Noir. So, as I mentioned we are drinking two California Pinot Noir Rosés which I would usually not do, but the price was right, and both were well rated by Wine Enthusiast, and both are screw caps, so I thought what the hell!?!

Rodney Strong is another winemaker that you should have no problem finding. They also make about a million cases per year, and they are also in Sonoma, but do focus a bit more on Sonoma County wines. 

This wine is a Sonoma Coast wine, so a bit cooler temperature area than the La Crema wine. They say that they ferment 100% of the wine in stainless steel, and cold ferment, so they are not trying to sneak in any oak, and this should be a crisp, clean tasting wine. This one is a little lower in alcohol as well at 13%, but still should be nice and dry. 

Rodney Strong also claim to be a sustainable winery, say they are the first winery to be carbon neutral in Sonoma County, get about half of their energy from solar, and focus on soil, water, and wildlife protection and conservation. So, again, if that is important to you, that is a good reason to seek these wineries out. 

But, I think that is enough information - let’s get to drinking! We’ll take a quick break and be right back. And, if you have these wines or similar wines, drink along with us!


ARTICLES and LINKS

• https://www.lacrema.com/wine/monterey-pinot-noir-rose/ 
• https://shop.rodneystrong.com/product/2022-Sonoma-Coast-Rose-of-Pinot-Noir 
• https://www.rodneystrong.com/trade/brand-assets/ 

2022 La Crema Pinot Noir Rosé, 2022 Rodney Strong Rosé of Pinot Noir Wine Tasting, Pairing, and Review 22:04

Wine: La Crema Pinot Noir Rosé (Click here to learn more about this wine on wine.com. We may be compensated if you buy wine on wine.com) 
Region: California, Monterey
Year: 2022
Price: $15.99
Retailer: Wine.com
Alcohol: 13.5%
Grapes: 100% Pinot Noir
Professional Rating: WE 91

What we tasted and smelled in this La Crema Pinot Noir Rosé:

• On the nose: Citrus, watermelon sour patch candy, strawberry, touch of oak
• In the mouth: Tart, a little bitterness, strawberry hard candy

Food to pair with this La Crema Pinot Noir Rosé: Versatile, cookout, grilled veggies, veggie pizza, pork tenderloin, spicy foods, Thai food, Teriyaki, fried fish, fish and chips
 
As a reminder on our rating scale, we rate on a scale of 1-10, where 7 and above means that we would buy it, and 4 and below means that we are likely to pour it down the sink, and a 5 or 6 means we are likely to drink it and finish it, but we are probably not going to buy it. 

La Crema Pinot Noir Rosé Wine Rating: 

• Joe: 7/10
• Carmela: 7/10

Wine: Rodney Strong Rosé of Pinot Noir (Click here to learn more about this wine on wine.com. We may be compensated if you buy wine on wine.com) 
Region: California, Russian River Sonoma County
Year: 2022
Price: $15.99
Retailer: wine.com
Alcohol: 13%
Grapes: 100% Pinot Noir
Professional Rating: WE 90

What we tasted and smelled in this Rodney Strong Rosé of Pinot Noir:

• On the nose: Strawberry, watermelon, peach pie, a hint of yeast, crunchy red fruit, raspberry
• In the mouth: Strawberry, sour candy tartness, sour strawberry candy, zippy, dry, easy drinking, fruit juicy, great summer party wine, good very cold

Food to pair with this Rodney Strong Rosé of Pinot Noir: Spicy foods, charcuterie, appetizers, baked brie, pork tenderloin, veal cutlet or chicken cutlet, chicken katsu, sushi

Rodney Strong Rosé of Pinot Noir Wine Rating: 

• Joe: 7/10
• Carmela: 8/10

Which one of these are you finishing tonight?

• Carmela: Rodney Strong Rosé of Pinot Noir
• Joe: Rodney Strong Rosé of Pinot Noir

Taste profiles expected from Pinot Noir Rosé  33:57

• General 
  • ChatGPT: Nose: Lime peel, pink grapefruit, dried mango, white flowers, tangerine, raspberry, watermelon, fresh cut grass, melon, and magnolia
  • Palate: Strawberry, peach hard candy, lime, red berry fruit, strawberry limeade, fruity and sharp
  • Finish: Pithy finish of pink grapefruit, sarsaparilla, rose petal, and green stemmy-ness
• La Crema Pinot Noir Rosé
  • Winery: Delicate aromas of orange blossom, sweet watermelon, and raspberry are supported by subtle mineral notes. Flavors of strawberry, peach, and orange creamsicle are throughout the wine, with a juicy acidity, and flinty mineral notes that help drive a long finish.
  • WE: A beautiful shade of pink in the glass, this bottling shows wet stone, pink rose petal and strawberry on the juicy nose. The palate offers plenty of strawberry cream flavors balanced by a persistent acidity.
• Rodney Strong Rosé of Pinot Noir
  • Winery: The beautifully colored, fresh and vibrant Rosé of Pinot Noir has aromas and flavors of strawberry, melon and tropical fruits. Brilliant and bright with fresh acidity, notes of citrus and a clean finish.
  • WE: A vivid pink-copper color and exuberant fruit aromas give way to nicely tangy raspberry and red-cherry flavors as this light-bodied wine activates the taste buds for the next bite of grilled shrimp or California roll.

Outro and how to find The Wine Pair Podcast 36:29

Ok, so, Carmela, it’s time for us to go, but before we do, we want to thank you very much for listening to us - and if you haven’t done so yet, now would be the perfect time to subscribe to our podcast and also a fantastic time to leave us a nice rating and review on our website or Apple podcasts or other podcast service - and it is an awesome and free way to support us and help us grow listeners.

We would also love to hear from you about a wine you would like us to taste and review. You can leave a message for us on our website thewinepairpodcast.com and you can join our email newsletter there, too, or you can always email us at joe@thewinepairpodcast.com. And tell us some things you want to hear us do, or not hear us do!

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Alright, with that, we are going to sign off, so thanks again, and we will see you next time. And, as we say, life is short, so stop drinking shitty wine.

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